Coco Gauff vs Maria Sakkari Tips, Prediction & Live Stream - Two-time finalist Sakkari can push Gauff in Indian Wells third round

Andrew Hendrie

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Last updated: Tue 11 Mar 2025 00:47

Andrew Hendrie 11 Mar 2025

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Coco Gauff vs Maria Sakkari predictions for Monday's WTA Indian Wells R3
Sakkari has won five of the eight previous meetings between the pair
Gauff has lost three of her last four matches
Sakkari has made the final twice and the semi-finals in her last three Indian Wells appearances
The match is scheduled to start around 7.00am AEDT on Tuesday March 11

Maria Sakkari (Photo by Getty Images)

Coco Gauff vs Maria Sakkari Tips, Prediction & Live Stream

Maria Sakkari will be hoping a return to Indian Wells can spark a return of form as the two-time runner-up faces third seed Coco Gauff in the third round on Monday.

Coco Gauff vs Maria Sakkari Tips, Prediction & Live Stream
Head To Head
Coco Gauff Form
Maria Sakkari Form
Live Stream

It's been a horror last few months for Sakkari, but she's played some of her best tennis at this tournament throughout her career, reaching the Indian Wells final in two of the last three years and making the semi-finals in-between. The Greek loves these slow courts in the Californian desert, which suits her grinding style of play perfectly.

I'm backing Sakkari to keep this score close and she's worth a small stake in the H2H too. Gauff was on a three-match losing streak dating back to the Australian Open before prevailing in a deciding set tiebreak in her opening Indian Wells match, so it's not like the American is setting the world on fire at the moment. Taking Sakkari with a +4.5 games start as the best bet.

Head To Head

Sakkari leads 5-3, including prevailing 6-4 6-7 6-2 in the Indian Wells semi-finals last year.

Coco Gauff Form

Gauff has registered a 10-3 start to the season, but nine of those victories came down under in January.

After leading the United States to the United Cup title with a win over Iga Swiatek, Gauff advanced to the Australian Open quarter-finals - but she would have been extremely disappointed with a straight sets defeat to Paula Badosa.

That loss seemingly affected Gauff going forward, with the American suffering back-to-back opening round defeats in the WTA 1000 tournaments in the Middle East last month, going down to Marta Kostyuk in Dubai and McCartney Kessler in Doha.

Gauff snapped her three-match losing run with a hard-fought 6-4 3-6 7-6 victory in her opening Indian Wells match against Moyuka Uchijima. The 20-year-old's best result at Indian Wells was last year's semi-final run.

Maria Sakkari Form

It's been a tough last couple of seasons for Sakkari, who has seen her ranking plummet from No. 3 to No. 29.

The Greek hasn't won back-to-back matches since the Paris Olympics, highlighting just how difficult she's been finding life on tour lately.

Sakkari is a poor 5-9 to start the season, suffering another first round exit at a major when she went down to Camila Osario at the Australian Open, while her last tournament resulted in a straight sets defeat to Zeynep Sonmez in the first round of Merida.

However, if Sakkari is going to recapture her best tennis, there's no better chance for her than Indian Wells against a top player she's got a winning record against. The 29-year-old opened her tournament in strong fashion, crushing Victoriya Tomova 6-0 6-3.

Live Stream

Watch and bet on Coco Gauff vs Maria Sakkari live tennis from Indian Wells.

You can watch and bet on the match live at Unibet > Tennis > ATP Indian Wells with the action available to stream on desktop and mobile.

Geo-restrictions apply, you'll need a funded account or to have placed a bet in the last 24 hours to gain access. 18+ terms and conditions apply.

Verdict

Sakkari hasn't won back-to-back matches since the Olympics, but there's no better time than now for the Greek to get back to some good form.

Sakkari has reached at least the semi-finals in her last three appearances at Indian Wells and has won five of her eight previous meetings with Gauff, who has been down on form herself since the AO.

It will obviously be an upset, but I'm liking Sakkari's odds in the desert.

Sakkari +4.5

Games Line

$2.02 - 2 Units

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Sakkari Win

H2H

$3.75 - 1 Unit

The GOAT.

Ahead of the Game.

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