Indian Wells (United States) (AFP) – Russian teen Mirra Andreeva ended defending champion Iga Swiatek’s bid for an unprecedented third Indian Wells women’s title, toppling the world number two 7-6 (7/1), 1-6, 6-3 on Friday to reach the final.
Andreeva, 17, ended Swiatek’s 10-match Indian Wells winning streak, beating the Polish star for the second time in three weeks after toppling her in the quarter-finals at Dubai on the way to becoming the youngest ever WTA 1000 champion. She’ll have a chance at another of the prestigious titles on Sunday when she takes on the winner of another semi-final grudge match between world number one Aryna Sabalenka and Australian Open champion Madison Keys.
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American veteran Keys denied the Belarusian a third straight Aussie Open title as she claimed her own maiden major in Melbourne in January. Andreeva is the youngest Indian Wells finalist since 17-year-old Kim Clijsters in 2001.
The world number 11 stymied Swiatek in a dominant first set tiebreaker and regrouped after Swiatek steam-rolled through the second set on another cold, blustery evening on Stadium Court. Swiatek, who hadn’t dropped a set in her prior 10 match wins in the California desert, looked supremely confident as she dropped just one point in her first three service games.
But Andreeva claimed the first break of the match for a 5-4 lead, Swiatek opening the door with a double fault and a forehand into the net before firing a forehand crosscourt wide. Swiatek broke back in the next game, and they went to the tiebreaker, where Andreeva opened with a stinging backhand crosscourt winner to launch a dominant display.
Swiatek put her frustrations aside and broke Andreeva to open the second set, breaking her twice more as the Russian’s errors multiplied under pressure from her opponent. “I saw my mom’s nervous face in the big screen,” Andreeva told the crowd. “I tried not to look there.”
But the roles reversed again when Andreeva broke Swiatek to open the third, and she sealed the victory with her third break of the set.
© 2024 AFP
