Swiatek reaches Indian Wells final
INDIAN WELLS, California: World No. 1 Iga Swiatek overpowered Marta Kostyuk, 6-2, 6-1, on Friday (Saturday in ManilaI to reach the final at the ATP-WTA Indian Wells Masters.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who won the 2022 Indian Wells title, needed just 69 minutes to get past 32nd-ranked Ukrainian Kostyuk and will face either third-ranked US Open champion Coco Gauff or ninthranked Maria Sakkari of Greece in Sunday’s final.
“I’m happy with the performance,” said Swiatek, who didn’t face a break point. “I think it was the cleanest match I played here.”
Although she has reached the final without dropping a set, Swiatek had insisted after prior victories that she had a few things in her game to sort out.
It looked as if she had as she put Kostyuk on the run early, piling on the pressure with her precision and power.
The Ukrainian, playing in her first 1000 level semifinal, had fallen behind 3-0 in the second set when she had treatment on her left foot.
When play resumed, it didn’t take long for Swiatek to polish off the victory, clinching it with a service return winner for her fifth break of Kostyuk’s serve.
Meanwhile, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will have to find a way past “the best tennis player in the world right now” when takes on Jannik Sinner in the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters.
The 20-year-old Spaniard, already a two-time Grand Slam champion, is chasing his first title since he vanquished Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last July.
Sinner, meanwhile, is on the ascendant. The 22-year-old Italian is riding a 19-match winning streak that stretches back through last year’s Davis Cup finals.
His perfect 16-0 record in 2024 includes a maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and the title at Rotterdam last month.