World No.1 Iga Swiatek showed she has put her Australian Open disappointment well behind her as she crushed Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-0 in the WTA Indian Wells final to claim the title for a second time.
In a rematch of the 2022 showpiece in the Californian desert, Swiatek’s precise serving and speedy defence proved too much for her ninth-seeded Greek opponent and the Pole reeled off the final eight games to close out a tournament where she never dropped a set.
Swiatek, who won her third straight Qatar Open in Doha last month, beamed on the sun-soaked stadium court after getting her hands on the trophy again.
“Right now I just feel I’ve done really good work,” said the 22-year-old, who was upset in the third round of January’s Australian Open.
“It hasn’t been easy after Australia, and I’ve been working hard to play well and to handle everything mentally well.”
Swiatek later told reporters: “Even though this tournament looked like, the scores, maybe I had everything under control, it wasn’t from the beginning to the end so easy.
“So I’m happy I could improve during the tournament. I felt really good on the last two matches, big amount of confidence. I’m really proud of myself.”
The top seed came out firing in the final, building a 3-0 lead before Sakkari worked her way back into the set for 4-4.
But on her third set point, the Pole dragged Sakkari from one side of the court to the other before capturing the opener with a forehand winner.
Swiatek dominated the second set, crushing a running backhand for a 3-0 lead and then breaking serve for 4-0 as the outmatched Greek began to fade.
Swiatek, a four-times grand slam champion, has now won a WTA-leading 20 matches this season and has two titles after her triumph at the Qatar Open in February.
She will look to capture her second ‘sunshine double’ with a win at the Miami Open, which begins on Saturday.
She is now 19-4 in career finals and 8-2 at the WTA 1000 level while Sakkari has a 2-8 record in showpiece matches.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t put up a better fight,” Sakkari told the crowd after the match lasted just over an hour.
“It was pretty quick for you guys but credit to Iga … You and your team have created something incredible. I’m really hoping we can play a lot more finals.”
– with AAP