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. Swiatek 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. “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. I’m happy that I closed it, for sure, because I knew this big cloud is coming,” she said.
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A brief rain delay in the first game was barely a blip for Denmark’s Holger Rune in a 6-4, 6-4 victory over in-form Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas was coming off his first title in nearly a year in Dubai last month, but Rune, ranked 13th, snapped the world number nine’s seven-match ATP win streak with an aggressive game that included 22 winners. Up 4-3 in the second set, Rune saved a break point with a dazzling between-the-legs shot, racing back to the baseline after a Tsitsipas lob and batting the tweener that dropped perfectly to deny the Greek. “The tweener — that’s the first thing I’m going to check when I get back to my phone,” Rune said.
Rune, 21, has struggled since his fourth-round run at the Australian Open, but he improved his record against Tsitsipas to 4-0. “Mentally, I was very, very good,” Rune said. “I think that’s what made the difference — how composed I was able to stay. Obviously Stef is back in shape, so yeah, it was a cool battle.” Rune next faces 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.
Women’s world number four Jessica Pegula and Elina Svitolina were one game into their third set when play was halted again. 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. 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, while China’s ninth-ranked Zheng Qinwen took on Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk. Andreeva beat seventh-ranked former Wimbledon champion Rybakina in the semi-finals last month at Dubai on the way to becoming the youngest player to win a WTA 1000 tournament.
© 2024 AFP
