Swiatek Wins BNP Paribas Open Women's Singles ; Alcaraz Wins Men's

INDIAN WELLS, CA — Top-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland won the BNP Paribas Open women's singles final Sunday, beating ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-4, 6-0, winning the final eight games of the 68-minute match.

Swiatek broke Sakkari's serve five times and lost only five points in the second set. Swiatek won all six of her matches in straight sets en route to her second BNP Paribas Open title, losing just 21 games overall.

Swiatek earned $1.1 million for her second Women's Tennis Association tournament victory of the year and 19th of her career. She also won the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in February.

Sakkari received $585,000. She was seeking her third WTA title and first since the Guadalajara Open in September.

Swiatek has been first in the WTA singles rankings since Nov. 6. Sakkari is ranked ninth.

The victory improved Swiatek's record in singles play at the BNP Paribas Open to 18-2. Her .900 winning percentage is the best in the history of the Indian Wells' women's event, which was first held in 1989, surpassing Steffi Graf's .895.

It was a rematch of the 2022 BNP Paribas Open women's final, also won by Swiatek, 6-4, 6-1, and the first meeting between the two since then. The women have split their six career matches.

On the men's side, second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz completed a successful defense of his BNP Paribas Open singles title, defeating fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, 7-6, 6-1, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The Spaniard advanced to the final Saturday with a rain-interrupted 1- 6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over third-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy, while Medvedev was a 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2 winner over 17th-seeded American Tommy Paul in Saturday's second semifinal.

This was the second time in the tournament's history that the same men have met in the final in consecutive years. The other time was in 2014 and 2015 when Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer on both occasions.

Alcaraz is the tournament's first defending men's champion to reach the final since Federer in 2017. He is the first man to win at least two BNP Paribas Open singles titles in a row since Djokovic won three straight from 2014-16.