WTA tournament in Indian Wells – Iga Świątek in the quarterfinals
Iga Świątek defeated the British Emma Raducan 6:3, 6:1 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tennis tournament on hard courts in Indian Wells, California. The next rival of the defending world leader will be the Romanian Sorana Cirstea.
At the opening of Świątek, who will turn 22 in May, she had the so-called. by a bye, in the second round she easily won 6-0, 6-1 against American Claire Liu, and in the third she had to work hard to eliminate the 32nd seed Canadian Bianca Andreescu 6-3, 7-6 (7-1).
In the 1/8 finals, the charge of coach Tomasz Wiktorowski was waiting for Raducan, who defeated Magda Linette in two sets in the second round. A year younger than Świątek, the Canadian-born daughter of a Chinese woman and a Romanian – hence the Asian features and Romanian surname – made herself known to a wider audience in the summer of 2021, when playing with a “wild card” she reached the 4th round of Wimbledon. Two months later, she was on the lips of the entire tennis world when she sensationally triumphed in the US Open Grand Slam.
The previous season, however, was not successful for the British, who changed coaches more often than she achieved good results. She joined the match against Świątek as the 77th player in the world ranking, although she was already 10th in it.
The match started at 21 local time, so it’s no wonder that the Polish woman went to the court in a warm jacket. During the game, however, she warmed up quickly, because the rival set the bar high for her and the beginning of the match was very even. The British woman put up fierce resistance, imposed her conditions in many exchanges and showed off spectacular plays.
However, she was unable to maintain such a disposition for a longer part of the meeting and the moment came when a faster, stronger and more precise striker, and above all better physically prepared, started to dominate.
The sixth game turned out to be a breakthrough for the fate of the first game, which Świątek won “dry” with Raducan. She immediately followed the blow and it became 5:2, and after a while – with another own service gem – she sealed the success in this set.
In the second, the British could only afford a spurt at the very beginning, and then the game was played only on the terms of the leader of the world ranking, which left no illusions about who was better that day. Playing confidently, freely and calmly, she scored the fading in her eyes and more and more resigned Raducanu 6:1 and won the entire duel after less than an hour and a half of competition.
“I was very disciplined on the court, I played a really solid match” – summed up Świątek with her second career victory over Raducan, whom she also defeated last year in the quarterfinals in Stuttgart.
Sorana Cirstea will be the next opponent of Raszynianka. The experienced Romanian defeated in the 4th round the seeded with the “five” French Caroline Garcia 6:4, 4:6, 7:5
The 32-year-old tennis player from Bucharest has already eliminated four opponents in California, although Madison Keys withdrew after the first set for health reasons. Once the world’s 21st rocket, it now occupies the 83rd place in the world ranking, but in individual tournaments it climbs to the heights of possibilities and can threaten the best.
Świątek and Cirstea have met only once so far – the Polish woman won in three sets in the 1/8 final of last year’s Australian Open in Melbourne.
“We know each other quite well, because apart from this one match, we trained together a few times before the season. She is an experienced competitor, she certainly deserved one hundred percent to participate in the quarter-finals. Tennis can surprise, but I will be prepared and I will do everything to advance further, “the Polish woman admitted in a short conversation on the court.
Round of 16 Match Result (4th Round):
Iga Świątek (Poland, 1) – Emma Raducanu (UK) 6:3, 6:1. (PAP)
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