Iga Swiatek’s rampant Indian Wells form continued on Thursday as she comfortably sealed her semi-final spot with a victory over eighth seed Zheng Qinwen.
Having not dropped a set across her opening three matches, dropping just six games in total, the world No 2 defeated the Chinese 6-3, 6-3 to keep her title defence alive.
It was Swiatek’s first match against Qinwen since a heartbreaking defeat to the world No 9 at the Olympic Games last summer, with the Chinese beating the Pole in straight sets on her way to the gold medal.
Though she had beaten the Chinese in all six of their previous meetings ahead of Paris 2024, and now leads the head-to-head 7-1, Swiatek admitted “revenge” was on her mind this time around.
“I want to show myself and everybody that I can do it, and I already knew before the Olympics match, I know now,” said Swiatek.
“It’s not nice to lose to anybody, so for sure you want to have a little, I don’t know, like revenge, but it’s nothing personal. I think every player has that against everybody who they lose to before.
“This was the only match that I lost against Qinwen and I wanted to learn from it, it didn’t really cross my mind that much, because I knew that this is on hard court and I knew what I did wrong in the Olympics.
“Honestly, I would say that clay didn’t help me on the Olympics, because these high spinny balls that came into place, it’s much easier to go forward and to play them when you know exactly how the ball is going to bounce. On clay, you can’t really do that.
“For sure, it was tricky then. Here I thought it’s going to be more clear, and that’s what happened.”
Swiatek’s victory places her into a fourth consecutive semi-final in Indian Wells.
The five-time Grand Slam champion defeated Simona Halep in her 2022 semi-final and Marta Kostyuk in 2024, while losing to eventual champion Elena Rybakina in 2023.
The world No 2 has now made history by becoming the first woman to reach four consecutive semi-finals at the event since the tournament introduced a women’s event in 1989.
And, yet more history could await for Swiatek over the next three days.
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Should Swiatek go on to successfully defend her title, she would become the first woman to win the title on three separate occasions.
Currently, Swiatek is one of 10 women to have won the tournament twice, joining the likes of Serena Williams, Steffi Graf, and Martina Navratilova, among others.
However, she faces a tough test next against the in-form Mirra Andreeva.
Ninth seed Andreeva defeated the Pole on her way to the Dubai title last month, and is currently riding a 10-match win streak.
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