Iga Swiatek faced tricky conditions in her first match against Zheng Qinwen since the Paris Olympics but didn’t allow any surprises to happen this time as the No. 2 seed got the job done in two sets 6-3 6-3 and progress into the Indian Wells semifinal.
Half a year ago, the Pole’s hopes of landing an Olympic gold medal on the clay courts of Roland Garros were stunningly halted by the Chinese, who handed her a two-set defeat.
Today, Swiatek meant business right from the start and claimed two early breaks for a 5-1 lead. While Zheng got one break back and managed to reduce the deficit to 5-3, the defending Indian Wells champion served out for the opener in her second attempt in the ninth game.
The second set was more or less a similar story as the Pole earned back-to-back breaks to open a 4-0 lead – the eighth-seeded Chinese refused to quit and got one break back – but her comeback bid fell short after the No. 2 seed registered her third break of the set in the ninth game.
What Swiatek said after the match and who is her next opponent in Indian Wells?
Following her seventh win over Zheng in their eight meetings, the five-time Grand Slam champion said the conditions were definitely tricky but was happy with how she handled everything on the court.
“At the end it got really windy which made it tricky.. It was a weird match with all the breaks. I wanted to be composed and focused. I’m glad I did that,” the defending champion said.
In the Indian Wells semifinal, Swiatek will face the winner of the match between Mirra Andreeva and Elina Svitolina.
Tennis World USA