The No.7 seed Greek player Maria Sakkari Maria Sakkari rallied from a set and a break down to defeat 15th seed Petra Kvitova 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 and advance to her second straight semifinal of the Indian Wells Masters, here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The victory was Sakkari's fourth consecutive three-set win in Indian Wells, with three of those wins coming from a set down. She is now the joint leader in three-set wins on tour this season, tying Anastasia Potapova with seven.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Not only was I down a set and a break, but she made me play like an amateur in the first set. She was playing so well. I had to try and focus on different things, I had to try and look at the other side of the net to see what I could do to put her in uncomfortable positions and I think it worked. I just tried to play physical -- all I can say is I need a pedicure because my feet are bleeding so badly," said Sakkari after the match.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Greek sets up a clash with No.2-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, who advanced to her third semifinal of the season by losing just four games to Coco Gauff, in Friday's semifinals at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sabalenka owns a narrow 4-3 lead in the head-to-head but Sakkari has won their last two meetings. Both wins came at the last two editions of the WTA Finals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I think she's a different player than when I played her the last time," Sakkari said about his semifinal clash with Australian Open champion Sabalenka.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"She just won a Grand Slam, she's so confident. I watched a little bit of her match today and she was hitting so big. It's going to be tough, another big hitter, like today. All I can do is try to find solutions. All I can say is my mentality is very good and I'm here to stay until the end," she added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 27-year-old Greek is bidding to become the first player to make back-to-back finals at Indian Wells since Maria Sharapova in 2013. Defending champion Iga Swiatek, who is set to play her quarterfinal on Thursday, can also match Sharapova's feat.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"She just won a Grand Slam, she's so confident. I watched a little bit of her match today and she was hitting so big. It's going to be tough, another big hitter, like today. All I can do is try to find solutions. All I can say is my mentality is very good and I'm here to stay until the end," she added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n