Maria Sakkari will take on Iga Swiatek in the women’s final of the Indian Wells after the Greek knocked out out reigning champion Paula Badosa in three sets.
Sakkari, who had fallen on the semifinal stage on 12 of her last 14 semi-finals reached the biggest title match of her career following a 6-2 4-6 6-1 win over Spain’s Badosa.
The 26-year-old overpowered her opponent throughout the opening set winning it with ease before losing her momentum in the second. The world number 6 managed to rediscover her first-set level just in time and cruised to a nerveless conclusion, hitting 28 winners in the process.
Maria Sakkari will now take on Iga Swiatek in the final after the Pole notched a 7-6(6) 6-4 straight sets win over Simona Halep in just under two hours to extend her winning streak to 10 matches and reach her second straight final having won the WTA 1000 title in Doha last month.
Former French Open champion Swiatek had to work for a victory having to save two set points in the tiebreaker and needing hit 19 winners to close out the opening set.
Halep, a two-time Grand Slam winner herself, swung the momentum back in her favor in the second set but was unable to fight past the 20-year-old Swiatek, who rallied from 4-2 down before winning 16 of the final 21 points to seal the semi-final result.
After being pushed to three sets in her first three matches this week, Swiatek has found her rhythm picking up her second straight-sets win in a row, following up on her 6-1 6-0 dismantling of Madison Keys.
