Maria Sakkari reached the finals of the “WTA 1000” tournament in Indian Wells, the athlete from Greece beat Coco Gauf (the US Open champion), the score 6-4, (5)6-7, 6-2.

Maria SakkariPhoto: Aurelien Morissard / AP / Profimedia

>> VIDEO Indian Wells 2024: Iga Svyatek in the final after a tennis demonstration

Coco Gauff defeated Maria Sakkari in the semifinals of Indian Wells 2024

Tennis experts expected a final between Iga Sviatek and Coco Gauf, but Maria Sakkari did not agree with that and played a great match against the home favorite from the Californian desert.

Maria started the game very well and was close to a much bigger victory than the final result shows. The WTA No. 9 was leading 6-4, 5-2, but lost three match points at 5-4 in the service game.

Gauff (the 3-seed) made an impressive comeback to take the second set on a tie-break and lead in the deciding set with a break, but was unable to sustain the momentum and Sakkari eventually claimed victory after two hours and 45 minutes of play.

Know:

  • Sakkari now leads 5-3 in head-to-head matches with Gauff.
  • Maria will fight for the trophy with Iga Svyatek. They also competed in the final of the 2022 tournament in the California desert, and the Pole won (6-4, 6-1).
  • Iga Svyatek has 18 titles and lost four more finals. Maria Sakkari, on the other hand, has reached the final stage of the competition for the tenth time, but has only won two titles so far.
  • In the last five years, Iga Sviatek (35) and Maria Sakkari (20) are the only players who have won at least 20 matches in the WTA Top 10.
  • If she wins the Indian Wells final, Maria Sakkari will move up to No. 6 in the WTA rankings.

Maria Sakkari – Iga Sviatek, 3-2 in direct matches

2022, Indian Wells: 6-4, 6-1 for Svyanek

2022, Doha: 6-4, 6-3 for Svyanek

2021, Tournament of Champions: 6-2, 6-4 for Saqqara

2021, Ostrava: 6-4, 7-5 for Sakkari

2021, Roland Garros: 6-4, 6-4 for Sakkari.

The BNP Paribas Open is a WTA 1000 tournament that takes place from March 6 to 17. The game is played on a hard surface and the total prize pool is $8,995,555. Titled champion – Olena Rybakina.