Greek ninth seed Maria Sakkari will compete for Indian Wells glory against world number one Iga Swiatek thanks to a shock beating of Coco Gauff in Friday's rain-affected semi-final.
The 28-year-old earned her fourth WTA Tour victory over the reigning US Open champion with a 6-4 6-7[5] 6-2 success to reach her fourth Masters final and her second Indian Wells showpiece, two years on from losing the 2022 final to Swiatek.
Nothing could separate the two evenly-matched semi-finalists in the first eight games of the match, where there were no break points to be had whatsoever, but Gauff blinked first in the ninth game, despite initially fighting back from 40-0 down.
A double break for Sakkari in the second set would ostensibly set the Greek on her way to a straightforward triumph, but at 5-2 down, Gauff incredibly broke the ninth seed twice when she was serving for a place in the final, saving three match points along the way.
With the wind knocked out of her, Sakkari could not prevent Gauff from forcing a deciding set, in which the American broke straight off the bat, but a rejuvenated Sakkari responded emphatically with a four-game winning streak.
After finding a sixth gear while Sakkari was serving for the match in the second set, a beleaguered Gauff would ultimately be undone while serving to stay in the semi-final, sending a forehand long on her opponent's fourth match point.
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"I just kept believing, kept fighting," Sakkari said after her exceptional triumph. "I didn't give up. You can easily lose your head when you lose that second set from being match points up.
"It's obviously exciting. Just two years later I'm back in the final. This is the best place you can be. It's gonna be very challenging for sure, she [Swiatek] is the best player in the world."
Earlier in the day, Swiatek made extremely light work of her final-four encounter with Marta Kostyuk, thrashing the Ukrainian 31st seed 6-2 6-1 with just 69 minutes on the clock.
The world number one ruthlessly converted both of her break points in the opening set and subsequently roared into a 4-0 lead in the second, when Kostyuk began to be affected by foot blisters.
The Ukrainian nevertheless battled on but was powerless to neutralise Swiatek, who brought up match point on Kostyuk's serve and whipped a quintessential forehand winner down the line to advance to her second Indian Wells final and 10th Masters showpiece.
The Pole crushed Sakkari 6-1 in the final of the 2022 Indian Wells tournament to win her first and only California crown to date, which represents the most recent of their five meetings, three of which have interestingly been won by the Greek.
Ben Knapton
