(Reuters) – Top seed Iga Swiatek delivered a dominant performance to defeat Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2 6-1 and secure her spot in the Indian Wells final on Friday. The 22-year-old Polish player is now in contention for her second title of the year.
If Coco Gauff, the U.S. Open champion and third seed, can overcome ninth seed Maria Sakkari from Greece in the second semi-final, she could potentially face Swiatek in an exciting title match. Swiatek expressed her satisfaction with her performance, stating, “For sure I’m happy with the performance. I think it was the cleanest match I played here. It’s already a great tournament.”
When asked about her preference for her potential final opponents, Swiatek remained neutral, saying, “There’s no preference. 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.”
The 2022 champion, Swiatek, took an aggressive approach from the start, securing a break for a 2-1 lead. She continued to dominate, with Kostyuk hitting a double fault and Swiatek wrapping up the first set in just 31 minutes.
Kostyuk, 21, struggled against the world number one Swiatek at the beginning of the second set. Another break was secured by Swiatek with a powerful smash at the net, giving her a 3-0 advantage after withstanding some pressure from the 31st seed.
Despite Kostyuk appearing to be troubled by a left foot problem, a medical timeout only temporarily delayed the inevitable. Swiatek sealed her victory with a forehand winner, notching her 19th match win of the season and further solidifying her position as a top player on the WTA Tour.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
