The WTA Indian Wells semifinal line up is enough to make any tennis fan’s mouth water. We’ve got the defending champion Paula Badosa in action. Joining her are Simona Halep, Iga Swiatek and Maria Sakkari, all of whom are adored by fans of the women’s game. Each is deserving of their spot here too, having played wonderful tennis so far this week. Picking a favourite is nearly impossible here, Nevertheless, I must at the very least whittle it down to two names. With that in mind, let’s get stuck into this set of WTA predictions.
WTA Indian Wells Semifinal Predictions
Paula Badosa vs Maria Sakkari
Head-to-head: 1 – 0 Badosa
It’s no secret that my personal belief is Sakkari will win this tournament. For me this is a match featuring the defending champion in action against the next champion. However, I do my best to make these predictions objectively and will do so again here. Badosa played superb tennis here last year to win the trophy. After a slow start to 2022, she appears to be at that level again. That level saw her make the WTA Finals last year and defeat Sakkari in that same tournament. The young Spaniard is fearless and aggressive, with no clear weakness to her game. She is strong off both wings, moves well and can defend as easily as she can attack. However, her opponent is equally capable.
Sakkari has been arguably the best player in several tournaments this year now. She should have had a title in St Petersburg but choked against Anett Kontaveit. She then should have had a chance to contend for the title in Doha, but again choked in the semifinals. This all on the back of choking in two Grand Slam semifinals last year. The fact of the matter is Sakkari needs to get over the line in a big tournament and soon. She has all the physical weapons needed to be an unstoppable force in the women’s game. All she needs now is the mental fortitude to go along with it. Badosa has that fortitude and has won big tournaments in the past. That is the lone reason I give her the edge here. I still believe Sakkari will win it all this week, but the objective pick here is Badosa and so that is what I will go with.
Prediction: Badosa in 3
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Iga Swiatek vs Simona Halep
Head-to-head: 2 – 1 Halep
The fourth instalment of what is becoming a must-see matchup shall take place at Indian Wells on Friday. these two split the spoils over two meetings at Roland Garros before Halep had the last laugh at the Australian Open last year. However, Swiatek is a much improved hard court player since then. The young Pole looks ready to become a perennial Grand Slam contender and winner and those kinds of players are always in the mix in these big tournaments as well. Swiatek will need to be patient here, but will like her chances if she can find her range off the ground.
Halep will be hoping to frustrate her into hitting as may errors as possible. In truth, there isn’t much else the diminutive Romanian can do. She is an elite mover and counterpuncher, but Swiatek just has too much power and variety for her to be able to live with if Swiatek is finding her spots. Halep also has a very attackable serve which will play a huge part here. I suspect we will see some spectacular rallies in this match. However, the shorter points will decide it and I think Swiatek wins too many of those for Halep to overcome here.
Predictions: Swiatek in 3
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