Maria Sakkari has faced Iga Swiatek three times in 2021, winning all three matches and claiming all six sets the pair contested, however, she admits she feels “nervous in tight moments” ahead of today’s Indian Wells final.

Currently seeded sixth in the world, she feels the enormity of expectations on her both as an individual and an athlete representing Greece.

Should Sakkari win today, she will be bumped up to No2, the highest position for any Greek tennis player male or female. If Swiatek wins, she will be seeded fourth.

On Thursday, Sakkari handed Rybakina a 7-5 6-4 loss to advance to the Indian Wells semifinal after losing the first set.

“I think I had a rough start,” Sakkari admitted after the match. Leading up to the final, Sakkari said: “I feel like I’ve improved on my serve, I’ve improved on my groundstrokes. I don’t have a huge hole in my game. There are a lot of things that I can improve, which is something good. Especially mentally, sometimes I have to just be a little bit stronger. But I’m working on that and I think I’ll get where I want to get.”

In terms of stress, she believes that “that’s part of the game. You just have to accept it, accept the fact that coming into a match like today or tomorrow, anytime, you can feel pressure, you may feel nervous”.

Even though Sakkari has overpowered Swiatek before, the Pole has changed her coach – and her tactics in 2022 with a much more aggressive game style.

“I think we will both go out and try and play very aggressive because this is how tennis is right now and women’s tennis, in general,” Sakkari told reporters after her three-set victory over defending champion on Friday night at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Just minutes after locking up a spot in her biggest career final, Sakkari wasn’t ready to talk tactics.

“I just haven’t really thought about the tactic yet because it’s too early and too soon,” she told tennis.com on Saturday. “It’s something that I want to just start thinking from tomorrow because she has changed her game. She’s not the Iga that was a year ago. She has been playing very, very aggressive and I was actually very surprised with that change when I played her in Doha. So I’ll have to come up with a good plan with my team.”