Maria Sakkari looked up to new coach David Witt, desperate for a solution. Time was running out, the score of one of the biggest matches of her career quickly slipping out of reach. Of course, the problem wasn’t with Sakkari, who may not have been playing at the same level as the week preceding the Indian Wells final, but was by no means playing a bad match.
The problem was the beast on the other side of the net. Sakkari certainly wasn’t the first to utter those thoughts, and she definitely won’t be the last. But at that point, after a four game run to give Iga Świątek a 6-4, 2-0 lead in Sunday’s showpiece, the result was all but decided.
Witt and Sakkari never found the solution that the Greek was looking for in that fateful moment, to no fault of their own. By all indicators, the early returns on the new pairing were excellent, with Sakkari showcasing some of her best tennis in quite a while in the California desert and persevering through some very difficult mental battles that she may not have without Witt’s calming presence. Sakkari came from a set down to win twice, and her recovery from the second set collapse in her semifinal against Coco Gauff was certainly one of steely resolve.
But Iga Świątek is inevitable.
I want to put into perspective how incredible Iga’s run over the course of her very young career is. At just 22 years old, she has won 19 titles. She’s 19-4 in finals played on tour. Eight of those trophies came at WTA 1000 level, and four of them came in Grand Slams. She is 20-2 in 2024, winning over 90% of her matches. Since the start of 2022, Swiatek is 155-22 for a win rate of about 87.6%.
At least from a viewing experience, Świątek has reached a new tier. It always feels like she is about to run off six, eight, ten games in a row, and frequently she does, like in the Indian Wells final! She’s reached the point where she’s not only the best player in the world—she has been for a few years now—but no matter where she is in the match, it feels like they all will end the same way.
For any college basketball fans out there in the United States, almost every match she plays — save for a select few matchups — feels like the No. 1 seed against the No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The underdog can build a lead, even a big one, but it almost always feels like Świątek has it in her to win as many games in a row as she needs.
That feeling comes from not only the fact that she has won nearly 90% of her matches over the past three seasons, and even more than that so far this year, but it’s the way she wins those matches that leaves little room for doubt.
Take her run at Indian Wells for example. Her first match was against Danielle Collins, who gave her all sorts of trouble in January at the Australian Open. Swiatek faced two break points at 3-3 in the first set. She won the match 6-3 6-0.
Her next match was against Linda Noskova, the big-hitting Czech who dispatched the World No. 1 in Melbourne. Swiatek was in danger of going down a pair of breaks in the first set while serving at 2-4, 15-40. She won the match 6-4 6-0.
Fast forward to the final against Sakkari. The Greek, leading the head-to-head 3-2 coming into the day, made a big push to level the first set at 4-4 and looked ready to challenge Świątek. Iga won the match 6-4 6-0.
