World No 1 and tournament favourite Iga Swiatek cruised into the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with a demolition job against Marta Kostyuk on Saturday.
Swiatek was in frightening form from the start as she dominated her 21-year-old opponent from Ukraine to win 6-2 6-1 and reach her second WTA 1000 final of the year.
“For sure I’m happy with the performance. I think it was the cleanest match I played here. It’s already a great tournament,” said Swiatek, who has won 30 out of her last 32 matches.
“There’s no preference,” she said in reference to her potential final competitors. “It would be stupid for me to say anything. Both of them are really great and experienced so they are going to be fighting today and fighting in the final, no matter who is going to be there.
“It’s going to be tough anyway.”
Swiatek needed just 45 minutes to build a set and a break lead against the world No 32 who started her first career semi-final at WTA 1000 level.
Kostyuk received a medical timeout after appearing to jar her foot on the court, and despite carrying on, it was the relentless Swiatek who completed victory after 69 minutes.
The Pole did not face a break point in the match, and only dropped 10 points on serve.
Swiatek will meet Maria Sakkari in Sunday’s final clash after the Greek held down a spirited fightback from third seed Coco Gauff.
Top seed Swiatek earlier produced a near-flawless display in chilly, windy conditions to cruise past Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-2 6-1 and remain on track for her second title of the year.
“For sure I’m happy with the performance. I think it was the cleanest match I played here. The focus was high throughout and I didn’t have any doubts,” said Swiatek, who has not dropped a set in the Californian desert this year.
“It’s already a great tournament.”
The 2022 champion made her intentions clear early on with an aggressive start to break for a 2-1 lead and pulled further away when Kostyuk hit a double fault two games later.
The 21-year-old Kostyuk surrendered the opening set in 31 minutes and was put through the wringer again by world number one Swiatek at the start of the second set.
A powerful smash at the net gave Swiatek another break. The four-times Grand Slam champion withstood some pressure from the 31st seed in the next game before building a 3-0 advantage.
Kostyuk appeared to struggle with a left foot problem and a medical timeout only delayed the inevitable, as Swiatek eased to a WTA Tour-leading 19th match win of the season, finishing off the match with a forehand winner.
Sakkari holds down Gauff
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Highlights from the Indian Wells semi-final match between Coco Gauff and Maria Sakkari.
Maria Sakkari endured a spirited fightback from Coco Gauff to stun the third seed 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2 in a rain-interrupted Indian Wells semi-final on Friday and set up an intriguing rematch of the 2022 title clash with Swiatek.
US Open champion Gauff looked far from her best early in the match as Sakkari draw first blood after a short rain delay by breaking the American third seed in the ninth game, before securing the opening set with ease.
The players were forced off the court for a longer spell as the showers returned at the start of the second set, but Sakkari picked up from where she left off when the action resumed and tightened her grip on the contest with a double break.
But Gauff was not done and the 20-year-old rediscovered her rhythm in the high-octane second set to save three match points and go level at 5-5, eventually forcing a tie break which she dominated to set up a decider.
Ninth seed Sakkari regrouped and showed her quality in the decisive points after swapping breaks with Gauff early in the third set to prevail in the late-night thriller.
“I don’t want to disrespect Coco, but it would have been amazing if this match was over an hour ago,” Sakkari said after the epic battle that lasted two hours and 41 minutes.
“I’m going to take this win even though it was in three sets. I was thinking of the finish line in the second set and then things got tricky. But that was an amazing win.
“Coco is such an amazing opponent. She’s incredible. She fights for every point. I’m just so happy I’m in the final once again here.”
Henman: Swiatek playing with margin for error
“Swiatek was just different class,” Tim Henman told Sky Sports Tennis. “She really dominated proceedings and gave Kostyuk no chance to settle.
“Her ball-striking from the back of the court was phenomenal and she looks like she’s playing down the line – hitting the ball so hard and so early but still with margin for error. It was a great performance.”
Navratilova: Iga firing on all cylinders
“She’s a great front-runner,” said Martina Navratilova. “That’s when the players need to stay close to her at the beginning of the match because when she gets going it’s really hard to stop her momentum and then she grows in confidence.
“I think she’s added a bit of top-spin to that backhand – I just have a feeling because it seems safer. But she’s just firing on all cylinders right now and when she gets ahead, watch out!
“Once she gets ahead, good luck!”
Tale of the Tape
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