Tennis in the USA: Swiatek and Fritz win in Indian Wells

Iga Swiatek won the Tennis Masters in Indian Wells and is now second in the world rankings.

The 20-year-old Pole won Sunday's final against Maria Sakkari from Greece 6-4, 6-1.

For Swiatek, who beat Angelique Kerber in the round of 16, it is the fifth title on the WTA tour and the first at the Masters in the Californian desert.

She only won the Masters in Doha in February.

"Winning after playing so well in Doha gives me a lot of confidence and belief that I can do it," said Swiatek.

"I didn't think I was someone who was ready to win two tournaments in a row." Her biggest success so far was first place at the French Open 2020, and she made it to the semifinals at the Australian Open in January.

The win over Sakkari in just 80 minutes was Swiatek's eleventh straight win on the WTA Tour.

Swiatek said of her new world ranking: "It's pretty unreal, I have to look at it and check the list and see it." She wants to climb even higher because "I have the feeling that number one is getting closer and closer".

Ashleigh Barty from Australia is at the top.

Despite losing in the final, Sakkari climbed from sixth to third place.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal left no stone unturned and ended up conceding his first defeat of the year.

Despite a lot of pain and difficulty breathing, the Spaniard struggled for more than two hours in the Indian Wells final against Taylor Fritz from the USA, fended off a match point and lost 6-3 in the tie-break a good 20 minutes later after a big missed chance , 6:7 (5:7).

Instead of celebrating the fourth tournament win of the year and starting the clay court season unbeaten, the Spaniard had to digest the defeat and the circumstances.

"It's very, very ugly"

"I wanted to do it perfectly in front of clay," said Nadal.

"I'm sad because I wasn't able to fight properly.

Those feelings are hard, every day, but especially in a final, it's very, very ugly." Tennis and also won the ATP tournaments in Melbourne and Acapulco - all after problems with his foot that had completely disabled him for months.

He said his foot would never be 100 percent again before the start of the Masters in the Californian desert, but he can now deal with it and trust his body again.

That was until he had to be treated on the pitch late in the semi-final against his 17-year younger compatriot Carlos Alcaraz the night before.

There were further interventions by the physio against Fritz on Sunday.

Because of the short time between the two games, he does not yet know exactly what the problem is, said Nadal.

"It's hard for me to breathe," he said.

Nevertheless, he sometimes scored crazy points against Fritz, who in turn played extremely well.

As a fair sportsman, he had not mentioned his obvious complaints in the acceptance speech on the pitch and congratulated Fritz on his first win on the ATP tour.

Also in the press conference, it was important for Nadal to emphasize the importance of the moment for his opponent.

"This is a big day for him, I hope he enjoys it."

Fritz is the first American to win Indian Wells since Andre Agassi in 2001.

At 24, he is also as young as Novak Djokovic was when he won in 2011. “I have to hold back my tears for all the following interviews.

It's one of those childhood dreams, winning this tournament here in Indian Wells, that you don't even believe could come true," said Fritz, who comes from California, at the first reaction on the pitch to the great cheers of the spectators in the second largest tennis stadium in the world.

He himself had physical problems and wasn't sure until shortly before the game whether he would be able to play at all.

"I can't even begin to say how unbelievable it is that I was able to play today, the way I was able to play, my pain was so great," he said of the problems with his ankle, which arose during the warm-up.

When he finally used the second match point in the tie-break after Nadal had chased a ball on the net against all expectations when the score was 5: 5, Fritz sank on his back and stretched his arms and legs.

"I've lost those matches against the big boys my whole life and it always felt like they were unbeatable," he said.

"It's an honor just to be on the pitch with him, I grew up watching him."