Swiatek dismisses Cirstea, joins Rybakina in Indian Wells semi-finals

by time news

The world number 1 easily won this Thursday against Cirstea and joined the last four of the competition.

World number 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek swept Romania’s Sorana Cirstea (83rd) 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 in Indian Wells, where the Kazakh Elena Rybakina who beat her at the last Australian Open.

The 21-year-old Pole, looking for a double in the California desert that only Martina Navratilova achieved in 1991-1992, never flinched against an opponent she had beaten in 2022 in Melbourne, for their first showdown.

«JI knew how to finish properly»

Aggressive, sharp, sure of her tennis, Swiatek was conquering and dominating in the exchanges, never letting Cirstea believe in the feat, even when the latter broke in the first set to come back to 2-1. This fleeting burst had the effect of remobilizing the Polish, winner of Roland-Garros and the US Open last year, who again accelerated the pace to pocket the first set.

The 32-year-old Romanian, who had snatched her qualification in the quarters, by foiling the forecasts against the French Caroline Garcia (5th), tried to resist in the second set, after being left behind 4-0. She managed to take Swiatek’s service again, but it was only to delay the deadline, sealed after 1h22 of play.I started well in each run and I was able to finish cleanly, so…“, she summed up hot on the court, by way of satisfaction.

With this 16th victory of the season, all in two sets, Swiatek confirms its rise to power in Indian Wells. But she will have to be wary of Rybakina, winner at Wimbledon last year and finalist in Melbourne in January. On her way, the Kazakh (10th in the world) had sent her out of the 8th finals. “Elena is playing very well, but I will be ready“, she warned.

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