Top seed Iga Swiatek will face Maria Sakkari in the Indian Wells women’s final after a near-flawless performance to cruise past Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-1.
Sakkari found the going tougher, having to overcome a Coco Gauff fightback to book a place in the decider with a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory in a lengthy, rain-interrupted battle. The final between Swiatek and Sakkari will be a repeat of the 2022 showdown when the current world No 1 lifted the Indian Wells trophy for the first time.
Swiatek made her intentions clear early on against Kostyuk with an aggressive start to claim a break for a 2-1 lead. She pulled further away when Kostyuk hit a double fault two games later, wrapping up the opening set in 31 minutes.
The 21-year-old Kostyuk was put through the wringer again by Swiatek at the start of the second set. A powerful smash at the net gave Swiatek another break. The four-times grand slam champion withstood some pressure from the 31st seed in the next game before building a 3-0 advantage.
Kostyuk appeared to struggle with a left foot problem and a medical timeout only delayed the inevitable, as Swiatek eased to a WTA Tour-leading 19th match win of the season, finishing off the match with a forehand winner. “For sure I’m happy with the performance. I think it was the cleanest match I played here. It’s already a great tournament,” Swiatek said.
In the second semi-final, US Open champion Gauff broke Sakkari early but the No 9 seed fought back to take a first set interrupted by a short rain delay 6-4. A lengthy break for the weather delayed the start of the second set, Sakkari settling quickest on the resumption and breaking the American twice to lead 5-2.
But Sakkari could not serve out the match, despite having a match point, as Gauff broke back and took the set on the tie break. Gauff broke again at the start of the third set, but Sakkari dug in and rattled off four games in a row to take control again.
This time Sakkari was able to complete the job, breaking Gauff again to complete the win after two hours, 41 minutes on court.
