Iga Swiatek dismisses Maria Sakkari for Indian Wells crown, No. 2 ranking and 11th consecutive win

CHAMPIONSHIP POINT: Swiatek secures fifth career tour-level title

With the WTA’s No. 2 ranking on the line, third seed Iga Swiatek notched her 11th consecutive win by defeating sixth Maria Sakkari, 6-4, 6-1, to capture the BNP Paribas Open trophy Sunday.

Swiatek has now lifted back-to-back trophies at the 1000 level following her title run in Doha, where she also upstaged Sakkari in the semifinals. The 20-year-old is the first WTA player to reach 20 wins this season and ties Agnieszka Radwanska as the highest-ranked Polish player in history. After losing her tour-level final debut at Lugano in April 2019, Swiatek has won her last five in straight-set fashion and is her nation's first champion at Indian Wells.

"Woah, it's pretty crazy. I wasn’t expecting to be in that place, honestly. Especially after playing so well in previous tournaments," Swiatek said on-court afterwards. "I didn’t know it was possible for me to play that well [for] that long."

Sakkari, who halted Swiatek’s Roland Garros title defense last year, was contesting the biggest final of her career. The runner-up effort will see Sakkari join countryman Stefanos Tsitsipas as the only Greek players to crack the Top 3 on either tour.

Just after the match began, the wind began to pick up, causing both finalists to struggle with generating an impact on serve. The two traded four breaks, with Sakkari ultimately paying the price in not consolidating either of her advantages.

Each struck five double-faults and were well under winning 50 percent of their points at the line in the blustery conditions, but Swiatek’s aggression when she got a look at a second serve was the difference maker as her 14 for 16 success rate propelled her to a one-set lead. Sakkari hadn’t lost an opening set during the tournament coming in.

Maintaining a calm demeanor, Swiatek continued to play the big points on her terms. Her opponent let out far more negative energy, understandable given the lack of execution on serve displayed. Playing with the wind, Swiatek broke for 3-1 with a deep backhand return and piled on the momentum to wrap it up after 80 minutes with an inside-in forehand winner to finish.