Swiatek, Sakkari set up Indian Wells title clash

Maria Sakkari ended Paula Badosa’s bid for a repeat title at Indian Wells on Friday, beating the defending champion to set up a final clash with former French Open winner Iga Swiatek. Greece’s Sakkari triumphed 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to end Badosa’s bid to become the first woman since Martina Navratilova in 1990-91 to win back-to-back […]

Maria Sakkari ended Paula Badosa’s bid for a repeat title at Indian Wells on Friday, beating the defending champion to set up a final clash with former French Open winner Iga Swiatek.

Greece’s Sakkari triumphed 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to end Badosa’s bid to become the first woman since Martina Navratilova in 1990-91 to win back-to-back Indian Wells titles.

Poland’s Swiatek beat two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep 7-6 (8/6), 6-4.

Ranked fourth in the world, Swiatek was already assured of rising to a career-high third in the world. Either she or sixth-ranked Sakkari can claim the No. 2 spot with a victory in Sunday’s title match.

“Really it’s over my expectations,” said Swiatek, who said she came into the prestigious event in the California desert doubtful she could follow up her fourth career title in Doha with another deep tournament run.

But she rallied from a break down in each set and saved two set points in the first-set tiebreaker to notch a 10th straight WTA match win.

“It was really intense,” Swiatek said, “really physical. I think we had the longest rallies I played here.”

The 20-year-old evened her head-to-head record against Halep at two wins apiece, but she admitted it required a change in mindset taking on a player who was once ranked so much higher than herself.