Sakkari gets past top-seeded Pegula, will face Gauff in Citi Open final

Coming off a pair of first-round exits at the past two Grand Slam tournaments, Maria Sakkari was not necessarily anticipating a terrific showing at the DC Open. So how does a victory over the event's No. 1 seed and a run to her first final of the season sound?

Sakkari let a huge lead disappear Saturday but recovered to take the last four games and beat top-seeded Jessica Pegula 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the semifinals. Next up will be a meeting against No. 3 seed Coco Gauff, a 19-year-old American, for the championship Sunday.

"I'll be deadly honest with you," Sakkari said. "I didn't expect my tennis to be that good this week."

In the men's semifinals later Saturday, Tallon Griekspoor ended No. 1 seed Taylor Fritz's seven-match winning streak by eliminating the American 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Fritz won the hard-court title in Atlanta a week ago and entered Saturday having won 33 of 34 service games at the DC Open, but the 12th-seeded Griekspoor, a 27-year-old from the Netherlands, accumulated three breaks.

Griekspoor was 0-9 against opponents ranked in the Top 10 before getting past No. 9 Fritz. Now Griekspoor will face No. 9 Dan Evans in Sunday's final. Evans, a 33-year-old from Britain, beat No. 5 Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Saturday night in the last semifinal.

Gauff is working in Washington with new coach Pere Riba — he'll be with her at least through the U.S. Open, which starts later this month — and temporary consultant Brad Gilbert. The arrangement sure seems to be paying off so far: The 2022 French Open runner-up hasn't dropped a set and has ceded a total of 14 games through three matches heading into Sunday.

"Both of them really instilled a belief in my game. Bringing someone in, sometimes they feel like they need to change