The Belarusian forcefully defeated the Greek Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-3
The Kazakh resoundingly beat the Polish Iga Swiatek, number one in the world, by a double 6-2
the belarusian Aryna Sabalenka The ticket for the Indian Wells final was obtained this Friday by clearly defeating the Greek Maria Sakkari by 6-2 and 6-3 in one hour and 23 minutes. Australian Open champion and world number 2, Sabalenka gave Sakkari no chance – in seventh position on the WTA list – and firmly dominated her match on center court in Indian Wells. Thus, the Belarusian broke the service of her rival on three consecutive occasions to win the first set.
An expert in comebacks and epic matches -in this Indian Wells all her matches until today had been played in three sets-, Sakkari pulled her claws in the second set despite starting by conceding a ‘break’ in the first game. The Greek responded to the 2-0 deficit with a service break and at times matched the forcefulness and punch of her rival (2-2). However, Sabalenka, after a stretch with several unforced errors and some doubts, recovered the best version of her, broke Sakkari’s serve (4-2) and pushed the accelerator to victory.
This will be the first final in the Californian desert tournament for Sabalenka while Sakkari was unable to ‘revenge’ this year his 2022 performance, when he lost in the title match against Swiatek. This semi-final had a bumpy start as it began more than thirty minutes late due to technical problems with the chair umpire’s public address system and the automatic hawk’s eye.
Rybakina overwhelms Swiatek
The Kazakh tennis player Elena Rybakina He gave the bell this Friday with a beating of the Polish woman Iga Swiatek, number one in the world, and will play the final of the Californian desert tournament against Sabalenka. Rybakina, who had already defeated Swiatek in the round of 16 of the Australian Open, was again the ‘black beast’ of the Pole and defeated her uncontested by a double 6-2 in an hour and 16 minutes. Champion of the last edition of Wimbledon and number 10 on the WTA list, Rybakina will have the possibility of being crowned on Sunday in Indian Wells in her first final in a Masters 1000 and also the option of ‘revenge’ against Sabalenka, who occupies the second position in the world ranking and who beat her in the final of the Australian Open.
Swiatek, current Indian Wells champion, could not at any time with an overwhelming and dominating Rybakina in all facets of the game. Thus, the one born in Moscow achieved seven direct aces (only one from her rival), won 82.4% of her points with the first serve and converted the five ‘break’ options that she had in the duel. Swiatek had not lost a set on her way to the semifinals but this Friday she lived a nightmare on center court between frustration, mistake and helplessness.