Sensational Sabalenka Sinks Sakkari to Reach Indian Wells Final
WTA
Aryna Sabalenka will play in the final of the Indian Wells Open this year after beating Maria Sakkari in straight sets.
Sabalenka played in a WTA 1000 final every year from 2018 until 2021. Last year, she reached only two semifinals, but she'll be back in such a final this year at the Indian Wells Open. Previously, she played in four WTA 1000 finals and won in all of them.
Going into the semi-final match, the Belarusian lost only once this year and played well in Indian Wells, beating Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals. On the other hand, Sakkari defeated the likes of Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova.
The Greek player is coming off her winningest season in the past five years, with 40 wins, and she’s looking to keep it going this year. So far, it’s been going really well, with a 15-5 record this year, not counting this match.
Everything was set for a blockbuster. Well, everything except for the tech, which postponed the start by 40 minutes.
The match itself was very interesting, as there were two in-form players going head-to-head, but one was clearly better. Sabalenka was able to win this match rather simply, needing only about 85 minutes to win the match.
The first set was a 6-2 affair, as Sabalenka dominated the rallies. Sakkari hit her first serve only 53% of the time, which gave Sabalenka many looks at the second serve. She dominated, winning 79% of those points.
In the second set, Sakkari found something and served a bit better but still massively struggled on the second serve. Sabalenka had her own issues on serve in this one, even getting broken once, but it wasn’t enough for Sakkari to avoid defeat. The final score was 6-2, 6-3 for Sabalenka, who made it through to her third final of the year.
