Buzarnescu Wallops Sakkari for 1st Career Title at WTA San Jose

Mihaela Buzarnescu defeated Maria Sakkari in the unlikely final of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, winning her first WTA final.
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Sakkari of Greece fell 6-1, 6-0 in her first WTA final.

“I was able to take all the emotions away and keep focused, and try to take it as a normal match, not as a final,” said Buzarnescu who improved to 1-2 in finals this year. “Even after the first set, I thought she could come back, so it was really not easy. After leading 3-0, I thought I could really win the match.”

The 30-year-old will improve to No. 20 on Monday.

Sakkari entered the event at No. 49 on the WTA rankings and will approach her career-high ranking of No. 33.

“I was still tired from yesterday…but she was very good today,” Sakkari said. “I wasn’t moving great, and it’s one of my weapons, so it wasn’t easy after two long matches and very intense days. I gained confidence and experience and it was a great week for me. I think I will be more prepared for my next final. I think she was extremely solid from the beginning of the match. She was serving clever…and she could do anything she wanted.”

Sakkari had 34 unforced errors over the 13 games. Buzarnescu said she felt little could go wrong.

“I started to believe that I could play good when I qualified for the US Open last year,” she said. “Everything’s better and better for me. I’ll just try to focus for each tournament and each game as I did before. Maybe people will look differently at me now, but I don’t want to change anything…just think of the good moments, and play.”