World No. 1 and reigning champion Iga Swiatek beat Sorana Kirstya 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday to advance to the semi-finals of the WTA and ATP Masters 1000 hard court tennis tournament in Indian Wells.
Swiatek, who won last year’s French and Australian Opens, reached the final four with Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, the woman who knocked Swiatek out of the round of 16 at the Australian Open in January.
Rybakina, one of the three women who beat Swiatek this season, beat the Czech Karolina Muchova 7:6 (7/4), 2:6, 6:4.
Swiatek is vying to be the second woman, after Martina Navratilova in 1990 and 1991, to win back-to-back titles in the California desert.
World No. 83 Kirstya with an impressive fourth-round victory over fifth-placed Caroline Garcia did her best to stick early to Swiatek by playing an early break and then deflecting a break point while holding a break point to even the score. debut set 2-2.
But Swiatek, having adapted to warm daytime conditions after two consecutive nights at Stadium Court, won the next eight games and became a stranglehold in the competition.
It turned out to be just a blip when Kirstja saved the first set point with an ace, giving herself a game point with a superb spin shot, before finally succumbing to Swiatek’s pressure with a right hand into the net.
In the second set, Swiatek instantly won two breaks. Cirstea pulled out one of them and then held on to a 4-2 score as she continued to try every punch she could muster to find a way to come back.
In the eighth game, the Romanian kept the ball in suspense, forcing Svyatek to give the ball, which she did after an hour and 22 minutes.
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Source: sports.yahoo.com
