INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Two years ago, the last time Iga Swiatek and Maria Sakkari played a tennis match, there were some big implications — but at the time, no one knew how big.
They met in the BNP Paribas Open final and Swiatek won by a regular count 6–4, 6–1. Under-the-radar awards: With Swiatek ranked No. 4 and Sakkari ranked No. 6, both players moved up to the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. This proved crucial when world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty retired a week later – and Swiatek, not Sakkari, was catapulted to the 28th No. 1.th Hologic is the first player in WTA Tour history to achieve that milestone.
Raise your hand if you believe the 20-year-old Polish player will still be at the top of women’s tennis two years from now. With the exception of Aryna Sabalenka’s eight-week summit trip late last summer, Swiatek’s reign has been a steady one.
History repeated itself in Indian Wells on Sunday. Swiatek was actually better this time, defeating Sakkari 6–4, 6–0 in the final. Swiatek won the last eight games and lost only 21 in six matches. She has scored 23 6-0 sets in WTA 1000 events – a phenomenal success rate of 11.2 percent.
“Honestly, I remember everything,” Swiatek said of that 2022 run. “It was so crazy. I am very proud of the way I faced all these challenges. First becoming world No. 1, then really feeling comfortable with it and using it on the court and being the target of many players who specifically wanted to beat me.
The 2022 win in the desert marked the beginning of a 37-match winning streak that also included the Miami Open title. Swiatek achieved the coveted Sunshine Double by defeating Coco Gauff, Petra Kvitova, Jessica Pegula and Naomi Osaka in her last four matches. He’s in a position to do it again when main draw play begins this week.
She will face the winner of Camila Giorgi-Magdalena Frech in the second round and, if she advances, will face Linda Noskova for the third time this year. The 19-year-old Noskova of the Czech Republic had defeated Swiatek in the third round of the Australian Open before losing in Indian Wells.
Here are some other major Miami stories:
tuesday program
Couldn’t have asked for a more spectacular start to the Miami Open. Feast your eyes on the star-studded fixtures scheduled for the opening day in Miami:
Seven-time major champion Venus Williams plays Diana Schneider.
Caroline Wozniacki, quarterfinalist, meets Clara Burrell in Indian Wells.
Simona Halep, returning for the first time since the 2022 US Open, will play Paula Badosa.
Speaking of Halep…
The two-time Grand Slam champion is back after winning his appeal on his doping suspension.
She immediately accepted a wild card into the Miami Open and has been practicing on site for about a week now.
Halep’s last match came 18 months ago at the 2022 US Open. The Miami draw was not particularly good. Halep faces Paula Badosa in the first round, with the winner meeting No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the second round.
Which raises questions…
Can Sabalenka pull it together?
He left Australia in January with a second consecutive Australian Open title, a final in Brisbane and an 11–1 record.
Since then he is 2-2. Sabalenka lost her only match in the Middle East to Donna Vekic and never gained any real ground in Indian Wells. She struggled to defeat Peyton Stearns in the second round match, which took two tiebreaks, and was pushed by Emma Raducanu in the third round. Emma Navarro defeated her 6–3, 3–6, 6–2 in the quarterfinals.
In the last five Miami tournaments, Sabalenka has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals.
How will Rybakina fare?
The 24-year-old Kazakhstani has won 17 of her 20 matches this year and claimed one title (Abu Dhabi) and one WTA 1000 final (Doha).
But since then, Rybakina gave a walkover to Jasmine Paolini in the Dubai quarter-finals – and withdrew before even playing a single match in Indian Wells.
A year earlier, she had lost to Petra Kvitova 7–6(14), 6–2 in a memorable Miami final.
Will Jabeur take steps in the right direction?
She has reached three major finals in the last two calendar years, but the amiable Jabeur has had a slow road to 2024.
After losing in the second round of the Australian Open, Jabeur went 1–2 in Abu Dhabi and Doha before withdrawing from Dubai due to a serious knee injury. Their first match in Indian Wells ended in defeat at the hands of wild card KT Volinets.
Jabeur’s Miami record is 5-4. Last year, she lost her first match to qualifier Varvara Gracheva.
Will Sakari continue this?
She was 3–3 in her last three WTA 1000 appearances but won five in a row before losing to Swiatek. Obviously, Sakkari got a good boost with the addition of coach David Witt to his team. Prior to this, Witt coached Pegula for more than four years.
Sakkari’s best effort came 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–2 over Coco Gauff in a rain-delayed semi-final that took more than five hours to complete. Perhaps this is a memory she will carry with her later on.
“That’s the situation right now,” he said of the loss to Swiatek. “I’m already thinking about Miami now, not losing in the first round again because my record hasn’t been very good the last few years after going deep here.”
