Indian Wells (United States) (AFP) – Elina Svitolina sent two-time champion Iga Swiatek spinning out at Indian Wells on Thursday to line up a semi-final meeting with Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina. Ninth-ranked Ukrainian Svitolina surged home to beat world number two Swiatek 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 while Rybakina thwarted Jessica Pegula’s comeback bid in a 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) victory over the fifth-ranked American.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka kept her bid for a first title in the prestigious ATP and WTA Masters 1000 event on track, holding off Canadian teen Victoria Mboko 7-6 (7/0), 6-4. The Belarusian star will face 14th-ranked Czech Linda Noskova, who ended the fairytale run of Australian qualifier Talia Gibson 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
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Svitolina’s aggressive attack was too much for Swiatek, who coughed up eight double faults and looked out-of-sorts in the early going. The experienced Svitolina made the most of the early chances she was given then held her nerve in a tense third set. She gained the lone break of the final frame as she won the last three games to take the match.
“I wouldn’t say it was the perfect match, but I could stay in the match and fight and find a way after losing second set,” Svitolina said. “There is no champion who is waiting for the mistakes, and you have to really try to set up yourself in a good position to attack,” she added. “I was trying to really open up the court and try to take the advantage, because Iga is such an aggressive player, and she moves really well. So if you don’t take the opportunity, she’s going to take it.”
Svitolina closed it out in style, giving herself a match point with an ace and nailing a forehand volley to reach the Indian Wells semi-finals for the first time since 2019. “You make me feel a bit old with that stat,” quipped the 31-year-old Svitolina, who returned to the top 10 in the world rankings in February for the first time since 2021 and the first time since becoming a mother. It was just her second career win over Swiatek in six meetings and her first since 2023. But the victory continued a rich run of form in 2026 that has seen Svitolina capture the title in Auckland and finish runner-up in Dubai last month.
For six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, it was another disappointing quarter-final exit this year after she fell at the same stage in the Australian Open and in Doha.
Rybakina, the 2023 Indian Wells champion, booked a return to the semi-finals with another win over Pegula, who fell to the Kazakh in the semi-finals in Melbourne. Rybakina recouped a break that had her trailing 4-1 in the second set and put on a serving clinic in the tiebreaker to end Dubai champion Pegula’s eight-match winning streak.
Sabalenka’s clash with Mboko was also an Australian Open rematch. Sabalenka said the 19-year-old Canadian had made strides since she was swept aside in the fourth round at Melbourne, but the Belarusian’s power and precision ultimately proved too much.
“It was a tough battle today,” Sabalenka said. “Super happy with the performance. Happy the level I played on those key moments in each set.” She added, “I think she was serving much better than she did in that match in Australia. Definitely a bit more confident and was playing more brave.”
Mboko agreed but said there was room for more improvement. “It’s never easy to play the world number one,” she said. “I had a lot of chances in the first set … but she was playing really well, especially on pressure points. I’ve got to give credit to her there.”
© 2024 AFP
