"I have full confidence in my game" - Sakkari after Badosa win

World No.6 Maria Sakkari advanced to the biggest final of her career by ending Paula Badosa's title defence at the BNP Paribas Open.

Sakkari is into her second final of the season, having made her first in at the WTA 500 in St. Petersburg. Coming into Indian Wells this year, Sakkari had reached seven semifinals in her last 10 tournaments, making two finals over that span. Prior to Friday night, she was 0-4 in semifinals at the WTA 1000 level. She said:

"I'll be deadly honest that I never, ever thought about it. I have a lot of people around me telling me about the semifinals and that I was not able to get over this hurdle. But I never, ever thought about it because I was always very confident and had a lot of belief that I would just get over it soon and it clicked, I guess."

Sakkari admitted she was concerned before the match but she pulled through:

"I was very concerned before the match because Paula is playing differently than the other girls. She has a very heavy game. She obviously loves this tournament because she won it six months ago. I had full faith and I believed in myself every single moment."

In the final she will play Swiatek who bested her in Doha a couple of weeks ago:

"I really respect her and I really like her because she's a lovely girl and she's very nice and whatever she has achieved she really deserves it. But on the other hand, I just have full faith and a lot of confidence in my game and in myself right now."