Indian Wells (United States) (AFP) – Defending champion Iga Swiatek was home and dry at rainy Indian Wells on Tuesday, powering into the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Karolina Muchova. The world number two from Poland needed just 57 minutes to put away Muchova, who took her to three sets in the 2023 French Open final. She didn’t face a break point as for the third straight match she gave up just two games.
Swiatek, whose first four Indian Wells appearances yielded titles in 2022 and 2024, could become the first woman to lift the trophy three times — and join Martina Navratilova as the only woman to win back-to-back titles in the California desert. She said the showers that delayed her match by 55 minutes were an extra spur to finish it quickly, especially after the rain came again near the end of the contest.
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“On last two games, it was a bit slippery already, but I really wanted to finish,” she said. “So I kind of played more risky, but the shots were still in. We both didn’t run a lot — it was about the first serve and the first shot. I’m happy that I closed it, for sure, because I knew this big cloud is coming.”
World number nine Stefanos Tsitsipas, who nabbed his first title in almost a year in Dubai last month, followed Swiatek on Stadium Court and had his fourth-round match against 13th-ranked Holger Rune of Denmark briefly halted. The winner of that match will face 43rd-ranked Tallon Griekspoor, who upset top seed Alexander Zverev in the second round.
Griekspoor also made a belated start and waited out a second-set delay in his 7-6 (7/4) 6-1 victory over Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki. World number six Daniil Medvedev was scheduled to open the night session against American Tommy Paul in a rematch of their semi-final last year. Russia’s Medvedev won that match to reach his second straight Indian Wells final, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz for the second year in a row.
If he can finally break through for the title he will join Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only players to win all six current ATP Masters 1000 hard court tournaments. Paul is one of five US men in the fourth round. Among them, unseeded Marcos Giron was also in action on Tuesday taking on 20th seed Arthur Fils of France.
In other women’s matches, 2023 champion Elena Rybakina faced 17-year-old Russian sensation Mirra Andreeva. Andreeva beat the seventh-ranked former Wimbledon champion in the semi-finals last month at Dubai on the way to becoming the youngest player to win a WTA 1000 tournament. World number four Jessica Pegula of the United States was scheduled to take on Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, and China’s ninth-ranked Zheng Qinwen faces Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.
© 2024 AFP
