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.
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“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.” Swiatek next faces ninth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who advanced when 44th-ranked Czech Katerina Siniakova retired with a right hip injury while trailing 6-1, 1-1.
“Of course very unlucky for her to finish a tournament like this,” Svitolina said of Siniakova, a former doubles number one who ousted defending champion Mirra Andreeva in the third round. “For me, it’s a little bit more time to recover for tomorrow’s big match,” said the 31-year-old who has lost four of five prior encounters with Swiatek.
Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, the 2023 Indian Wells winner, also advanced by retirement, with unseeded Briton Sonay Kartal calling it a day as she trailed 6-4, 4-3. Kartal had received treatment for a lower back injury during a medical timeout late in the first set. She continued to receive massages on the changeovers in the second before finally calling a halt after going down a break.
“Definitely not the way I wanted to finish the match,” Rybakina said. “It’s not easy, this kind of injury.”
– Over the hump –
Rybakina next faces fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula, whose 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) victory over Belinda Bencic marked her first victory over the Swiss veteran after four defeats. “Really happy being able to turn around my pretty poor record against Belinda,” Pegula said. “When you’re able to figure that out and get over that hump it’s always a good feeling.”
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.”
© 2024 AFP
