Wesley Koolhof for the first time to the Indian Wells final, Novak Djokovic does not enter the US and also misses Miami | Sport

For 33-year-old Koolhof, it will be his first final at the Indian Wells masters tournament, which is considered the fifth grand slam tournament. He reached the quarter-finals last year, but previously never got further than the second round.

In the final battle, Koolhof and Skupski will compete against the Indian Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden from Australia. They were too strong for John Isner and Jack Sock in two tiebreaks.

Koolhof and Skupski are aiming for their first title of the year. Last year they won no less than seven tournaments, including three masters tournaments.

Novak Djokovic also has to miss the masters tournament in Miami for the next two weeks. The number 1 in the world is still not allowed to enter the United States because he has not been vaccinated against the corona virus. Miami is no exception to this.

“We tried to make an exception for Djokovic, but that was not possible,” tournament director James Blake told the Tennis Channel. “We did everything we could. We tried to talk to the government because it was not up to us. We are one of the biggest tournaments in the world and we want to have the best players.”

Elena Rybakina has surprised Iga Swiatek in the semifinals of Indian Wells. The global number 10 was much too strong for the best player of the moment with 6-2 6-2. The game only lasted an hour and 16 minutes.

The 23-year-old Rybakina defeated the Polish Swiatek at the Australian Open earlier this year. Then it became 6-4 6-4. Rybakina eventually reached the final in Melbourne, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus in three sets.

The same Sabalenka is also her opponent in the final battle in Indian Wells. Sabalenka beat Greek Maria Sakkari 6-2 6-3 in California.

Swiatek and Sakkari were in the final last year.