Indian Wells

Top seed Swiatek in the final against Sakkari

World number one Iga Swiatek has lived up to her role as favorite and reached the final of the tennis tournament in Indian Wells. On Friday, the 22-year-old Polish player ended the run of success of Marta Kostjuk from Ukraine, who is one year younger, with a smooth 6:2, 6:1. On Sunday, she will surprisingly face Maria Sakkari from Greece in a repeat of the 2022 final. The latter defeated US Open winner Coco Gauff 6:4,6:7(5),6:2.

However, Sakkari could have made things a lot easier for herself, as she had three match points at 6:4,5:4 in the second set. In the tie-break, the world number three from the USA then used her fourth set point to force the decider. With breaks of 3:1 and 6:2, however, after 2:41 hours the match was over in favor of the underdog.

Sakkari is now also an outsider against Swiatek, who is aiming for her second title at the desert tournament after 2022 and her 19th WTA title overall. However, the Greek is 3:2 ahead in the head-to-head with the Pole, but Swiatek has won the last two encounters (both in 2022). Their most recent duel took place in the Indian Wells final, of all places, which the world number one won 6:4, 6:1.