Swiatek is the queen of the desert (and of tennis): she won her second Indian Wells and has won the last six finals played

The Polish Iga Swiateknumber one in women’s tennis, defeated the Greek Maria Sakkari on Sunday and was crowned champion of the WTA 1000 in Indian Wells (United States) for the second time.

Swiatek, who had already beaten Sakkari in the 2022 final in this tournament in the Californian desert, won this time with a resounding 6-4 and 6-0 in just 68 minutes of play.

With her victory, Swiatek climbed to the top of the record for this emblematic tournament together with nine other tennis players who also have two titles.

“It’s amazing to be up here again,” the Pole said during the awards ceremony. “Congratulations to Maria. You are one of those players who always fights.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t have fought better,” lamented the Greek. “That was very quick for you.”

“Thanks to Iga, she is an incredible player and champion. A very good person (…) With your team you have created something incredible”, recognized Sakkari amidst the applause of the central court, the second largest in the world (16,000 ). seats). .

Swiatek paraded for Indian Wells

Swiatek, unbeaten in the last six finals, crowned with this recital an amazing tour of Indian Wells in which he didn’t give up a single set in six matches.

After the unexpected setback at the Australian Open, at the hands of the young Linda Noskova, Swiatek once again demonstrated her authority in women’s tennis.

The 22-year-old jewel from Warsaw has conquered two of the first three WTA 1000 tournaments of the course (Doha and Indian Wells) and has accumulated more match wins (20) than any rival.

They already shine in their shop window eight trophies in this category and four Grand Slam trophies.

Sakkari, for her part, was unable to repeat a performance like the one in the semifinal against local star Coco Gauff, current US Open champion, in which she showed character to overcome the loss of three match points.

The courageous Greek tennis player, ninth in the world ranking, barely managed to get up in some phases of the first set, when she chained three games in a row, ending up succumbing in two sets against Swiatek as in the 2022 final.

Sakkari, 28, has eight defeats in 10 finals of a career in which she made her debut as WTA 1000 champion in September in Guadalajara.

Both players, who had not faced each other since the 2022 final, met again on a cool, sunny morning in the deserted Coachella Valley, with no sign of the rain that forced a halt to the two-day semifinals.

The world number one took advantage of Sakkari’s initial nervousness to score the first break and take a 3-0 lead in just 12 minutes.

The Greek then found a loophole in Swiatek’s dizzying play to get on the board and gain confidence in her shots to return the break.

Sakkari emerged victorious from several frenetic rallies and leveled the score at 3-3, but the Pole reactivated her version of big chances.

With a record of 19 wins in 23 finals (8/2 WTA 1000), Swiatek regained control of the match and took the lead in the first set.

The audience, including personalities such as actors Tom Holland and Zendaya, tried to encourage Sakkari to extend his wrist but Swiatek gave him no chance to react and ended the final with one of his usual empty sets.

Swiatek joined nine other tennis players who have triumphed twice at Indian Wells since the inception of the women’s division in 1989: Martina Navratilova, Mary Joe Fernandez, Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Daniela Hantuchova, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka.

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