Mar 20, 2022; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Iga Swiatek (ITA) holds the championship trophy after defeating Maria Sakkari (GRE) within the girls’s ultimate towards on the Indian Wells Tennis Backyard. Necessary Credit score: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports activities
Poland’s Iga Swiatek blew away Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-1 to win a windswept Indian Wells ultimate on Sunday and transfer as much as quantity two on the planet rankings.
One other windy day within the California desert made life depressing for each gamers, the gusts contributing to an uneven contest suffering from 9 breaks of serve.
Up goes the racket once more 🙆♀️
The primary Polish lady to win the #IndianWells title!@iga_swiatek | @BNPPARIBASOPEN pic.twitter.com/eWcH25aDHL
— wta (@WTA) March 20, 2022
The 20-year-old Swiatek claimed six of these breaks together with two in a one-sided second set, clinching a second consecutive WTA 1000 title with a thundering forehand winner.
The title is the fifth of 2020 French Open champion Swiatek’s profession.
“All people says it is actually heavy, so I am terrified of touching it” 😅🏆@iga_swiatek | #IndianWells pic.twitter.com/Zitu9Xy31o
— wta (@WTA) March 20, 2022
“It’s fairly loopy as a result of I wasn’t anticipating to be in that place (ultimate) particularly after enjoying so nicely within the earlier event; I didn’t comprehend it was potential for me to play that nicely for that lengthy,” mentioned Swiatek, winner of the WTA 1000 occasion in Doha in February. “At the moment was actually loopy due to the situations.”
After shedding her first three conferences with the Greek, Swiatek has now come out on prime within the final two, with Sunday’s victory extending her WTA match-win streak to 11.
Sakkari earned a spot within the ultimate by dispatching defending champion Paula Badosa however had no solutions for the windy situations and a targeted Swiatek.
Regardless of the loss, Sakkari will bounce to quantity three on the planet rankings on Monday, matching Stefanos Tsitsipas for the very best ever place achieved by a Greek participant.
Preserve holding your head excessive, @mariasakkari 💪
Rising to a career-best World No.3 with one other milestone week!#IndianWells pic.twitter.com/BtSfeW8Xtk
— wta (@WTA) March 20, 2022
The ultimate received off to a scrappy begin with 4 straight breaks of serve however Swiatek received to grips with the difficult situations first, holding to go 3-2 up and breaking Sakkari to take a one-set lead.
Sakkari by no means settled into the competition. She held serve to start out the second set however after that it was one-way visitors as Swiatek swept 5 consecutive video games.
“Clearly it wasn’t my day,” mentioned Sakkari. “There’s not a lot I can say about the best way I performed.
“Clearly it was windy. We have been each fighting our serves to start with of the match. (However the) wind is rarely an excuse as a result of wind is for each of us.”
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