In-form Iga Swiatek dispatched unseeded Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3 to ebook a spot within the semi-finals at Indian Wells the place the world No 1 will play the Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina.
Swiatek, the event’s defending champion, broke Cirstea for a 3rd time to seize the primary set and sprinted out to a 4-0 second set lead.
Cirstea reduce the result in 4-2 however Swiatek was decided to not let her again within the set, crushing a forehand winner for a 5-2 benefit and sealing the victory two video games later when Cirstea’s forehand went lengthy on match level.
The Pole has but to drop a set at Indian Wells and is brimming with confidence after profitable a title in Doha final month.
“From the beginning of the tournament I felt this positive energy,” Swiatek mentioned in an on-court interview. “The fans are really supportive. It’s not easy when you are the defending champion but I feel like I’m handling it pretty well and just playing my game.”
Swiatek can be out for revenge when she faces Rybakina, who handed her considered one of her three losses this season within the fourth spherical of January’s Australian Open.
Rybakina will play for a spot within the ultimate after surviving a stern check from Czech Karolína Muchová to advance 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4.
Muchová smacked a backhand crosscourt winner to interrupt serve within the first set for a 3-2 lead and, regardless of having performed a number of gruelling three-set matches at the event and having her left thigh wrapped, appeared contemporary.
The hard-hitting Rybakina struck again when she transformed her sixth break level alternative of the set by pouncing on a weak method shot from Muchová, who then couldn’t get her volley over the online for 5-5.
In the tiebreaker momentum swung firmly in Rybakina’s favour when she despatched a blistering backhand winner down the road for 4-4 and the 76-minute first set ended on a Muchová double fault.
The unseeded Muchová, a former prime 20 participant now ranked 76th, performed practically flawless tennis within the second set to pressure the decider.
In the third, the Tenth-seeded Rybakina went up an early break on one other premature double fault by Muchová and held at like to push the benefit to 3-1.
Muchová continued to battle, saving two match factors on her serve within the ninth recreation.
But Rybakina didn’t miss her third alternative to safe the win, crushing her sixth ace to finish the two-hour, 45-minute contest on a sunny day at the WTA 1000 occasion within the Southern California desert.
“It was a really tough match today,” mentioned Rybakina, who turned the primary Kazakhstani lady to make it to the event’s semis. “I served much better in the third. I didn’t start that well at the beginning of the match. I was a bit slower than usual and here the conditions are not that easy for me.
“But in the important moments I played well.”
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