Maria Sakkari defeated US Open champion Coco Gauff on Friday in three sets and four match points, opening the way for a title match against world no. 1 Iga Swiatek at the ATP-WTA Indian Wells Masters.
Greece’s ninth-ranked Sakkari lost three match points in the second set but recovered in the third to win 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 in a match that was delayed twice due to rain. She will face Swiatek for the title for the second time in three years after losing to the Polish star in 2022.
The four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek defeated 32nd-ranked Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-1 in just 69 minutes to secure her spot in the championship final.
Sakkari would not have an easy victory, as she trailed 4-3 in the first set when play was halted for 20 minutes due to light rain. Sakkari recovered and held serve before taking the only break of the first set, converting her fifth break point.
The second set had only just begun when heavy rain forced a two-hour break. When play restarted, Sakkari struck first, breaking an error-prone Gauff for 2-1 and again for a 5-2 advantage. However, the world number three, who was playing for the first time in the Indian Wells semi-finals, responded. Gauff easily broke Sakkari to get back to 5-3.
Two games later, Sakkari rallied from 15-40 down but was unable to convert her three match chances, firing a forehand long on the first before Gauff saved two more with winners on the way to a service break that tied the set at 5-5.
The American roared to a 6-2 lead in the tiebreaker and levelled the match with a winning serve play on her fourth set point. They exchanged service breaks to begin the third set, but Sakkari won the next three games to take charge and defeated Gauff for the last time to claim the victory after 2 hours and 41 minutes.
