Maria Sakkari described the 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 win over Petra Kvitova that put her through to the semi-finals in Indian Wells as one of the finest comebacks of her career. It was easy to see why.
Though she has struggled to produce her best in the California desert, Sakkari, the sixth seed, has made gladiatorial progress through the bottom half of the draw. The tone was set when she overcame an error-strewn start to her opener against Shelby Rogers, recovering from a set down to claim a first win in four meetings with the American, and she subsequently went the distance against both Anhelina Kalinina – another player against whom she had a losing record – and Karolina Pliskova, the Czech former world No 1, who beat her 6-1, 6-2 last month in Dubai.
For Sakkari, it has been a tournament for conquering demons, for living to fight another day, for finding a way without ever quite finding form.
In Kvitova, however, the Greek world No 7 faced a player who bows to no one in her ability to navigate a crisis. The Czech not only saved four match points against Jessica Pegula in the last 16, winning a dramatic final-set tiebreak 13-11 to leave the American third seed musing on how she would “never get used to the ups and downs of this sport”, but also bounced back from a first-set whitewash at the hands of Jelena Ostapenko a round earlier. In fact, before facing Sakkari, Kvitova had won seven of her previous eight three-setters.
No wonder the Greek, who recovered from a set and a break down, hailed “a bloody good win” after reaching the third WTA 1000 semi-final of her career.
“I’m just telling myself, ‘Look, you’re not playing your best tennis and you’re still winning and beating amazing players,’” said Sakkari after her seventh long-haul victory of the season. “I mean, my draw was, I would say, bloody tough.
“By just surviving and just finding ways, eventually I’m sure that my game is going to get better. I really want to see how it’s going to be when I start feeling good with my game.
“I think it’s been a very, very good week. I’m gaining a lot of confidence out of that, because it’s very easy when you win matches by playing good, but it’s not easy to beat good players by playing this way.”
It is harder still when you begin with a shank and a trio of unforced errors to lose your opening service game to love, as Sakkari did here. Kvitova’s fast start afforded her the freedom to continue in the free-swinging vein that propelled her to victory against Pegula. In the seventh game the 33-year-old broke to love for a second time, punishing Sakkari for a faltering performance on serve. The Greek made barely a third of her first serves in the opener and, although she narrowed a 5-2 deficit by winning two straight games, even that modest success was largely down to a loose passage of play from Kvitova.
With Sakkari overpressing, Kvitova seized the initiative early in the second set, pouncing on a short second serve to break before holding to consolidate. Had Sakkari not found a big plus-one forehand to stave off a point for a double break, her challenge would almost certainly have been extinguished. Instead, encouraged that another act of escapology might be possible, she began to work her way back into contention. Her serving improved markedly. Four break points were fended off. Then, with Kvitova serving at 5-6 and looking increasingly ragged off the ground, Sakkari doggedly worked her way back into a game that the Czech had led 40-0. She fashioned a set point, Kvitova missed a forehand, and suddenly the contest turned on its head, Sakkari’s superior consistency down the stretch proving decisive as Kvitova finished the match with 52 unforced errors.
“The first set and a half, I felt like an amateur,” said Sakkari. “She was playing very, very good. I just didn’t know what to do.
“But then I just told myself to keep trying and keep fighting. Eventually I started playing better, which was a good thing. It was a lifesaver.”
Given that she faces Aryna Sabalenka next, Sakkari will need to find her A game quicky if she is to repeat last year’s run to the final. Sabalenka, the second seed, saw off Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-0 to claim her 16th win of the season, and only her second against the sixth-seeded American, who had won three of their four previous meetings coming into the contest.
As Sabalenka explained, she is a different player since winning her first grand slam title at January’s Australian Open.
“I think I’m more calm on court, and I’m able to control my emotions, which helps me to stay in the game no matter what, and just fight for every point, without losing my mind and without giving easy points to opponents,” said Sabalenka.