Indian Wells: Iga Swiatek, Maria Sakkari set up final showdown
Mar 19, 2022
California [US], March 19 : World No.4 Iga Swiatek reached into her first Indian Wells final on Friday after defeating 2015 champion Simona Halep 7-6(6), 6-4 in a match that lasted for one hour and 49 minutes.
Poland's Swiatek prevailed saving two set points in the first set and hitting 19 winners to Halep's five to close out the opener.
The Romanian gained the momentum back in the second set but was powerless to fight past the 20-year-old Swiatek, who recovered from 4-2 down before winning 14 of 21 points to earn her five service breaks to clinch the closely-contested victory in one hour and 49 minutes.
After being pushed in her first three matches this week in three sets, 3rd seed picked up her second straight-sets victory in a row, following up dismissal of Madison Keys 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinal and with a win over Simona Halep of Romania.
With this victory, Swiatek reached her second straight final and extended her undefeated run to 10 matches at WTA 1000 events this year.
Later, Maria Sakkari of Greece outlasted defending champion Paula Badosa 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 in Saturday's semifinal clash. Sakkari dominated her opponent in the opening set in just 37 minutes.
In the second set, Badosa build a 4-2 lead over Sakkari and took care of her service games to force a decider. The 26-year-old powered through the third set to take a 2-0 lead. From 2-1 up, Sakkari raced away with the set, winning the last four games to win in a match that lasted for 1 hour and 48 minutes.
Greece's Sakkari, running for a second career WTA title will meet Poland's World No.4, Swiatek, on Sunday in the final match of Indian Wells.
