Maria Sakkari vs Aryna Sabalenka Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Indian Wells

Prediction published on 16/03/2023, 09:17  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 16/03/2023 at 11:43 in Tennis Predictions

Seventh seeded Maria Sakkari is out to reach a second successive Indian Wells women's singles final. To do so, the Greek player will have to get past the second seeded Aryna Sabalenka. Sakkari obviously loves playing at Indian Wells but has a tough task on her hands here. The 27-year-old has won her last two matches against Sabalenka at the WTA Tour Finals in 2021 and 2022. Before that, Sabalenka had won four in a row and leads 4-3 overall. Sakkari began this tournament ranked seventh but is ninth in the live rankings. A win here will take her back into seventh place. In the Live WTA Race, the Greek player is 11th but will rise to eighth if reaching the final. This is her third semi-final of the year but she's yet to make it to a final. It's been a struggle to get to the last four at Indian Wells. All four of her matches have gone to a final set and on three occasions, Sakkari has lost the first set. That includes her quarter final against Petra Kvitova.

Aryna Sabalenka is bidding to win her third title of the year. The Belarusian has already won in Adelaide and then won the Australian Open. This is the first time that she has made it to the semi-final stage at Indian Wells and hadn't reached a quarter final before this month. Sabalenka is top of the Live WTA Race and her only loss of the year was to Barbora Krejickova in the Dubai quarter finals. This tournament has seen her lose just one set in the four matches that made it to court. That was to Krejcikova in the last eight and before that Sabalenka lost just two games in the second round and received a walkover in round three. The last eight saw her in dominant form, beating Coco Gauff for the loss of just four games, all in the first set. Back her to get the victory over Sakkari.