Iga Swiatek expected to rise to world No.2 after Indian Wells triumph over Maria Sakkari
- Planet Sport writer
- 21 March 2022
The 20-year-old extended her WTA winning streak to a career-best 11 matches after securing a straight-set win in the Indian Wells final.
Poland's Iga Swiatek wrapped up her fifth career title, and second WTA 1000 of the season on Sunday night, with a straight-set win over Greece's Maria Sakarri.
The world No.3 put on a dominant display in California, beating sixth seed Sakarri 6-4 6-1 to become the first Polish woman to lift the Indian Wells title.
The win marked Swiatek's 20th of the season, a tour-leading tally, and it's expected to see her rise to a career-high world No.2 as a result.
😱Speechless...
— Iga Świątek (@iga_swiatek) March 20, 2022
😱Brak słów...@BNPPARIBASOPEN pic.twitter.com/9UkompkMMm
A remarkable opening set saw six of the first seven games go against serve, but Swiatek eventually adapted to start controlling Sakarri's returns, and managed to hold before breaking the 26-year-old to clinch it.
Swiatek was able to hold in the opening game of the second set too, and then came agonizingly close to breaking Sakarri, only for the Greek star to fend off two break points.
Sakarri then threatened to break Swiatek in the following game, taking her to three dramatic deuces, only for the Pole to hold on for a 2-1 lead.
From then on, Swiatek ramped up the pressure and Sakarri wasn't able to match the pace, resulting in a dominant 6-1 scoreline.
Having gone 0-3 against Sakarri early in her career, Swiatek has now won back-to-back games against her rival, both coming in successful WTA 1000 title runs in Doha and now Indian Wells.
Following the match, Swiatek stated that she didn't even think about winning the tournament a few weeks ago, despite her title success in Doha.
"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.
"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."
Polish perfection 🏆#IndianWells | @iga_swiatek pic.twitter.com/Z5OXuiTvzu
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 21, 2022
Swiatek also took a moment to praise her opposition, suggesting that the duo are on a similar career path of late.
"We're stepping a similar path, looking at rankings and looking at what we've been playing for the last couple of years. Paula Badosa, Anett [Kontaveit] and Ons Jabeur, I don't want to forget anybody, but I think we kind of started playing Top 10 tennis at the same time."
The 20-year-old was then questioned about her imminent No.2 rank, a feat Swiatek described as "surreal".
"It's 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."
