By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday September 22, 2023
Caroline Dolehide defated Sofia Kenin to reach her maiden WTA final at Guadalajara.
Photo Source: Getty
Caroline Dolehide’s career week continues in Mexico.
The 25-year-old has been smashing through milestones, and she continued the trend on Friday with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Sofia Kenin to become the second lowest-ranked WTA 1000 finalist in history.
Dolehide reached her maiden WTA final and will make her Top 50 debut on Monday as a result of five consecutive victories this week in Guadalajara.
She saved four match points on Thursday night to defeat Martina Trevisan in quarterfinal action, and on Friday she rallied from a break down in each set to take out the 2020 Australian Open champion in fine fashion.
Kenin had won eight of nine matches heading into the pair’s first tour-level meeting but it was the Illinois native who played the big moments better.
Dolehide is the 11th player ranked outside of the Top 50 to reach a WTA 1000 final since the format was initiated in 2009.
“Honestly I feel really confident in the work that I’ve put in,” said Dolehide, who will face Maria Sakkari in Saturday’s final. “Not only months, but literally years… It’s been a lot of hours and I just trust the process.”
Sakkari, the No.2 seed, eased past third-seeded Caroline Garcia, 6-3, 6-0 to reach the final. The Greek has not dropped a single set all week in Mexico.
"I'm so happy to get to the final and to stay until the last day of the tournament," said an elated Sakkari. "My goal today was to smile, enjoy, to come out her and have fun, because those are the emotions that I haven't felt in a while. ... mission complete but we have one more to go."
The Greek has now reached three 1000-level finals since the start of 2022 – she will bid for her second career title on Saturday.
Dolehide and Sakkari have never played before.