Top seed Iga Świątek produced a near-flawless efficiency to cruise previous Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-2 6-1 and into the Indian Wells final on Friday, remaining on observe for her second title of the 12 months.
The 22-year-old Pole might tackle US Open champion Coco Gauff in an intriguing title conflict if the third-seeded American can beat ninth seed Maria Sakkari of Greece within the second semi-final.
“For sure I’m happy with the performance. I think it was the cleanest match I played here. It’s already a great tournament,” Świątek mentioned.
“There’s no preference,” she added in reference to her potential final rivals.
“It would be stupid for me to say anything. Both of them are really great and experienced so they are going to be fighting today and fighting in the final, no matter who is going to be there. It’s going to be tough anyway.”
Świątek, the 2022 champion, made her intentions clear early on with an aggressive begin to declare a break for a 2-1 lead. She pulled additional away when Kostyuk hit a double fault two video games later, wrapping up the opening set in 31 minutes.
The 21-year-old Kostyuk was put by means of the wringer once more by world No 1 Świątek initially of the second set. A robust smash on the web gave Swiatek one other break. The four-times Grand Slam champion withstood some stress from the thirty first seed within the subsequent recreation earlier than constructing a 3-0 benefit.
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Kostyuk appeared to battle with a left foot downside and a medical timeout solely delayed the inevitable, as Świątek eased to a WTA Tour-leading nineteenth match win of the season, ending off the match with a forehand winner.
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