Indian Wells (United States) (AFP) – Two-time champion Iga Swiatek barreled into the Indian Wells quarter-finals on Wednesday, beating in-form Czech Karolina Muchova 6-2, 6-0. World number two Swiatek, who lifted the trophy in the prestigious ATP and WTA Masters 1000 in 2022 and 2024, won the last 10 games to halt Muchova’s eight-match winning streak, which included her first title since 2019 in the Qatar Open last month.
“I felt great,” Swiatek said after reaching her fifth straight Indian Wells quarter-final. “I felt really solid and like I could really, from the beginning till the end, play my kind of game and just play how I wanted to.” That included being “proactive” with her forehand. “I just chose the right balls to go forward or stay back and grind a bit more,” she said. “I think the decision-making was good today. I didn’t rush and I had comfortable situations to do what I wanted to.”
Related news
Swiatek next faces either ninth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina or 44th-ranked Czech Katerina Siniakova, who ousted defending champion Mirra Andreeva in the third round. Fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula beat Belinda Bencic 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) to advance, claiming her first victory over the Swiss veteran after four defeats.
Up 5-3 in the second set, Pegula thwarted a late comeback bid from Bencic, who produced a love service game then broke Pegula as she served for the match at 5-4. Bencic then held serve to force the tiebreaker, saving a pair of match points before Pegula closed out the win on her third opportunity.
“She made me have to earn it today,” Pegula said. “I felt like in the second set, when I got up there, I had a little bit of a lull where I had a couple of game points and I could have maybe finished the match. But she’s a really good player and when you don’t quite finish those off that’s where she can come in, and that’s what she did.”
Pegula will next face either reigning Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, the 2023 Indian Wells winner, or unseeded Briton Sonay Kartal.
© 2024 AFP
