Swiatek Cruises To Her Fourth Straight Semifinal In Tennis Paradise

Iga Swiatek’s bid to win an unprecedented third women’s title at the BNP Paribas Open remains very much alive. In fact, it looks like she’ll be difficult to stop.

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The Pole put in another strong performance to reach the semifinals, beating Qinwen Zheng 6-3, 6-3 in a rematch of their Olympic semifinal last year. Zheng won that day to end Swiatek’s 25-match winning streak at Roland Garros in Paris — and claimed gold — but the World No. 2 fared better on a chilly, blustery day in the desert.

“I’m happy that I was pushing until the end,” Swiatek said on court. “For sure it was a weird match with all the breaks and everything but I wanted to be composed and really focused, and I’m glad I did that.”

Zheng, though, did win six games — the number of games Swiatek had dropped combined in her previous three outings. Still, Swiatek became the first player since Novak Djokovic in 2011 to drop 12 games or fewer in reaching the final four in Indian Wells.

Her winning tally at Indian Wells resembles her mastery at the French Open, where she is a four-time champ. By downing the eighth seed, Swiatek improved to a sizzling 22-2 in (her) Tennis Paradise.

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