Super Swiatek sweeps aside Sakkari to claim Indian Wells Open crown

California, March 21: Iga Swiatek claimed back-to-back WTA 1000 titles as she captured the Indian Wells Open crown after defeating Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-1.

Winning her 11th successive match, the Pole added to her triumph in Doha last month after prevailing in one hour and 20 minutes.

Swiatek subsequently climbed to a career-high second in the WTA rankings; making her the first Polish player to do so since Agnieszka Radwanska in July 2012.

The 20-year-old also claimed her fifth career title; becoming only the fifth woman to reach that tally before her 21st birthday after Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

IGA GOES BACK-TO-BACK 🏆🏆

🇵🇱 @iga_swiatek defeats Sakkari 6-4, 6-1 at #IndianWells to clinch her second consecutive WTA 1000 title of the season! pic.twitter.com/8gx5nUNkgM

— wta (@WTA) March 20, 2022

"After playing so well in previous tournaments, I didn’t know it was possible for me to play that well for that long," said the former French Open champion, who claimed her second successive win over Sakkari having also prevailed in the Qatar Open semi-finals.

"I want to congratulate Maria. Every match against her is a great battle. I know that we've already started a cool rivalry.

"I think it's going to last for 10 more years, so it's going to be exciting, and I’m sure we're going to play many more finals.

"I want to thank my team; they're doing an amazing job calming me down and getting me to the place where I'm more confident and developing my tennis."

The two finalists struggled to settle during the opening set; both hitting five double-faults as six of the first seven games went against the serve.

But 12 unforced errors to her opponent's seven proved crucial for Sakkari, who had only been broken seven times in her five previous matches, as third seed Swiatek drew first blood after 45 minutes.

Losing only her second set of the week, sixth seed Sakkari had been beaten on all three occasions in 2022 when losing the opener.

Meanwhile, Swiatek had not dropped a set since her fourth-round victory over Angelique Kerber, and built on that momentum as she dominated the second.

The former Roland Garros champion broke her opponent twice more, as she only required an additional 35 minutes to wrap up victory; a sweeping forehand sealing the deal.