The Indian Wells Masters comes to a conclusion on Sunday with both ATP and WTA Finals set to be played on the same day.
Iga Swiatek - 3.5 games v Maria Sakkari: A World Number 6 should have played in a WTA 1000 Final before, but Maria Sakkari will be doing that for the first time on Sunday. She has become a consistent player at the top of the WTA Tour, but it also underlines the feeling that the Tour is lacking serial winners at the moment when a player can reach those heights in the Rankings without playing in the Finals of the biggest events.
She has reached the Final at the WTA 500 level earlier this season, while Maria Sakkari may be quite content with the potential match up in this Final against an opponent she has largely gotten the better of in their previous meetings.
Iga Swiatek did snap the losing run to Maria Sakkari by beating her earlier this season and it has been a very strong tournament for the former French Open Champion. The slower conditions in Indian Wells have suited her, but Maria Sakkari has looked very happy here too and I think it has the makings of a quality Final.
Both players will be very happy with their level- Iga Swiatek has had the edge with her returning numbers, but Maria Sakkari has served really well throughout the tournament and has yet to drop a set.
In their three matches in 2021, Iga Swiatek was unable to deal with the Maria Sakkari serve and was beaten in all three in straight sets. Two of those defeats came on the hard courts, but the Polish player did get the better of Sakkari in Doha last month and that will give her a real mental boost.
On that day it was Iga Swiatek's return which proved to be the difference between the players and she has won around 7% more points on the return than Maria Sakkari in this tournament. The Greek player has been really good behind the serve in the tournament, but I do think Iga Swiatek will be much happier with the match up after beating this opponent in Doha in the Semi Final.
Emotionally I am expecting Iga Swiatek to cope with the experience a little better than Maria Sakkari, who will know all about the lack of big titles, and I think that will lead to a win for the higher Ranked player.
MY PICKS: Iga Swiatek - 3.5 Games @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
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