Top seed Aryna Sabalenka crashed out of the WTA Finals here on Monday, losing a gruelling three-setter against Greek fourth seed Maria Sakkari.
Sakkari set up a semifinal against Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit after outlasting Sabalenka 7-6(1), 6-7(8), 6-3 in 2hr 47min.
“It was a roller-coaster match from both of us,” Sakkari said.
Sabalenka was left ruing a failure to capitalise on key moments and served 19 double faults that undermined her service game.
The other semifinal will see an all-Spanish showdown between Paula Badosa and Garbine Muguruza.
The results: Iga Swiatek bt Paula Badosa 7-5, 6-4; Maria Sakkari bt Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(1), 6-7(6), 6-3 .
