Swiatek seals Indian Wells semi-final spot after soaring past Zheng
Iga Swiatek exacted revenge on Zheng Qinwen with a straight-sets victory sealing her passage into the Indian Wells Open semi-finals.
The world number two avenged her semi-final defeat by the Chinese at last year's Paris Olympics, prevailing 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 34 minutes.
Swiatek came flying out of the blocks this time around, breaking at the first attempt and again in the sixth game to race into a 5-1 lead.
Zheng broke back to reduce the deficit to 5-3, but the Pole eventually held to draw first blood.
The five-time major winner then broke in the first and third games of the second set, while surviving another break back later on to secure her place in the semi-finals, where Mirra Andreeva or Elina Svitolina await.
4 - Since the event’s inauguration in 1989, Iga Swiatek has become the first player to reach the Women’s Singles semi-finals at the Indian Wells Open in four consecutive years. Path.#TennisParadise | @BNPPARIBASOPEN @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/OMKFXWOwtq
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) March 13, 2025
Data Debrief: Four-midable Swiatek matches Seles and Henin
Notching her 10th straight win at this event, Swiatek became the first player to reach the women's singles semi-finals at the Indian Wells Open in four successive years.
Converting all five break points along the way, the Pole is the third player to win her first four quarter-finals at the WTA 1000, after Monica Seles and Maria Sharapova.
Swiatek has dropped just 12 games along the way; the joint-fewest of any player who contested at least four matches to make that stage, alongside Lindsay Davenport (2004), Justine Henin (2006) and Jelena Jankovic (2008).