Indian Wells: Iga Swiatek beats Maria Sakkari to clinch WTA 1000 title

California [US], March 21 (ANI): Iga Swiatek of Poland defeated Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday to win the Indian Wells Open title and move up to number two in the Women’s singles world rankings.
The 20-year-old Swiatek claimed six of those breaks including two in a one-sided second set, winning a second consecutive WTA 1000 title with a forehand winner.
Trailing 5-4 in the first set, Sakkari led 40-30 but sent two backhands into the net to give Swiatek a set point, which the Greek saved with a forehand winner.
The final got off to a sketchy start with four straight breaks of serve but Swiatek got the grip in the tricky conditions as she broke twice in the second game of the second set for a 5-1 lead. She served out the match, winning on a forehand in the corner of the baseline.
With this win, Swiatek becomes the first woman to reach 20 match victories this season. Former French Open champion Swiatek is the first Polish woman to claim the title at Indian Wells.
“At the beginning of the tournament, I wouldn’t even think about winning, honestly, of course you have to believe in yourself, but I’m a realistic person,” Iga Swiatek said in her post-match press conference.
“Winning after playing so well in Doha is giving me a lot of confidence and kind of belief that I can do it…I wouldn’t think of myself as someone who’s ready to play two tournaments in a row and win it. For sure hard work is paying off,” said Swiatek.
“[The World No.2 ranking is] pretty surreal for now. I have to look at it and I have to check the rankings by myself and just see it. Right now it’s too surreal to describe it, honestly….But for sure I want to go higher because I feel like getting No. 1 is closer and closer,” she added. (ANI)