Swiatek downs Sakkari to win second Indian Wells title

INDIAN WELLS: World number one Iga Swiatek dominated ninth seed Maria Sakkari to win the Indian Wells final 6-4 6-0 and claim the title for a second time in the California desert on Sunday.

In a rematch of the 2022 showpiece, Swiatek’s precise serving and speedy defence proved too much for her Greek opponent and the Pole reeled off the final eight games to close out a tournament where she never dropped a set.

“I’m really proud of myself, I’m super happy,” Swiatek told reporters. “Even though this tournament looked like, the scores, maybe I had everything under control, it wasn’t from the beginning to the end so easy.

“So I’m happy I could improve during the tournament. I felt really good on the last two matches, big amount of confidence. I’m really proud of myself.” Swiatek, who won her third straight Qatar Open in Doha last month, beamed a big smile on the sun-soaked stadium court after getting her hands on the Indian Wells trophy again.

“Right now I just feel I’ve done really good work,” said the 22-year-old, who was upset in the third round of January’s Australian Open. “It hasn’t been easy after Australia, and I’ve been working hard to play well and to handle everything mentally well.”

The top seed came out firing in Sunday’s final, building a 3-0 lead before Sakkari worked her way back into the set for 4-4. But on her third set point, the Pole dragged Sakkari from one side of the court to the other before capturing the opener with a forehand winner.