Anett Kontaveit claimed her fourth straight indoor title after a hard-fought 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-5 victory over Maria Sakkari in the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy final. It took the second seed nearly three hours of intense play to get past the top seed. By recovering from several precarious positions in the latter half of the match, the Estonian athlete earned her sixth career trophy and reached a milestone of 20 consecutive indoor wins, a streak that began with her titles in Ostrava, Moscow, and Cluj-Napoca last season.
Anett Kontaveit surpassed Maria Sakkari 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-5 in the final of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy to secure her fourth straight indoor title. The second-seeded Kontaveit took nearly three hours to beat the top-seeded Sakkari. The Estonian ace claimed her 6th career title after recovering from being a breakdown in the second and third sets. Anett Konaveit registered her 20th consecutive indoor win, which includes her title runs at Ostrava, Moscow, and Cluj-Napoca at the end of last season.
This run represents the most successful indoor streak on the women's circuit since Justine Henin won 22 consecutive matches from 2007 to 2010. Although Kontaveit and Sakkari are evenly matched with six wins apiece in their 12 meetings, Kontaveit's current indoor momentum made her the favorite. She initially controlled the match with aggressive, high-quality shot-making, putting Sakkari on the defensive and leading 5-2 in the opening set.
Sakkari, however, remained determined and clawed her way back into the match. As Kontaveit began to commit more unforced errors, Sakkari's confidence grew; she managed to break back to level the set at 5-5 and eventually seized the momentum to win 7-5.
The momentum stayed with Sakkari as she continued to play with high energy while Kontaveit appeared rushed and inconsistent. Leveraging her superior court coverage and net play, the Greek athlete jumped to a 2-0 lead, taking advantage of Kontaveit's late groundstrokes. Although Kontaveit managed to stabilize the set to make it 3-3, she struggled significantly, at one point losing seven games in a row. Despite the pressure, she stayed mentally tough, eventually forcing a tiebreaker which she won 7-4 to stay alive in the match.
In the final set, Sakkari looked poised for victory, starting strong with a 3-0 lead. Her aggressive style allowed her to extend that advantage to 5-2. However, while serving for the match at 5-3, Sakkari suffered a sudden lapse in form, allowing Kontaveit to break her serve. This shift in momentum allowed the Estonian to fight back to 5-5. Seizing the opportunity, Kontaveit elevated her game once more and kept her composure to close out the match 6-5 in the decider.
Despite dominating large portions of the second and third sets, Sakkari ultimately let the title slip by crumbling during the most critical moments of the match. She came heartbreakingly close to winning her first tournament since the 2019 event in Rabat, but in the end, she had to watch Kontaveit celebrate the trophy.