Indoor Queen: Kontaveit Rallies Past Sakkari to Capture St. Petersburg Title with 20th Straight Indoor Win

Playing beneath a closed roof, Anett Kontaveit shows no competitive ceiling.

A spirited Kontaveit survived a seven-game slide and roared back from a 2-5 deficit in the decider streaking through the final five games in a wild 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-5 comeback triumph over Maria Sakkari in the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy final.

Solidifying her status as tennis’ true indoor queen, Kontaveit scored her 20th consecutive victory indoors.

The first St. Petersburg final between the top two seeds was a two-hour, 57-minute emotional rollercoaster ride with both women enduring and enacting major momentum shifts and both showing emotion in the post-match trophy presentation.

“I’m a little bit speechless still from this,” Kontaveit said. “I’d like to congratulate Maria. What you said brought a little bit tears to my eyes. I think the same about you—you’re such a great person.

“I’m really happy that we get to share these finals together and playing on these big stages. I think so much of you and I’m sure you will have so much success in the future.”

It is Kontaveit’s sixth career WTA title, including her fourth indoors, in a rousing win that vaults her to a career-high ranking of No. 6 in the live rankings as she stands on the cusp of cracking the Top 5.

Kontaveit is just the sixth woman to register a streak of 20 or more wins indoors since 1989. The roof-raiser’s current roll is the longest indoor winning streak on the WTA Tour since world No. 1 Justine Henin amassed a 22-match indoor winning streak from 2007 Stuttgart through 2010 Stuttgart.

A booming backhand and fierce will to win empowered Kontaveit to two comebacks in this match against good friend Sakkari, who was playing her first tournament as a top seed.

Spare a thought for Sakarri, who held at love for a 5-2 lead in the final set and served for her second career title at 5-3, but could not close.

It’s an absolutely heart-breaking loss for Sakkari, who battled by Irina-Camelia Begu in a gripping three hour, three-minute semifinal yesterday then fought to the end in another epic three-hour battle today.

Drained and deeply disappointed seeing this title opportunity slip away, a teary-eyed Sakkari was pure class in the aftermath refusing to make any excuses and instead crediting her friend for a committed comeback.

“Anett, here we are once again. It’s disappointing from my side, but you really deserved it and you played great tennis you showed some great character,” Sakkari said. “For people that don’t know we are great friends. I’m very, very happy for you for your achievements—very happy for your team.

“I mentioned it so many times: you’re a very good player, but you’re an extremely good person, which for me it counts more than being a good tennis player so congrats once again.”