Iga Swiatek and Greece’s Maria Sakkari met in the final of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., in 2022 and 2024, and each time, the Polish star won in straight sets.
The pattern repeated again on Monday, when top-seeded Swiatek downed 32nd-seeded Sakkari 6-3, 6-2.
“We played two finals here, so it’s funny (to see) us playing two years later in third round,” Swiatek said. “So for sure it wasn’t an easy match. I’m really happy with the result.”
Swiatek arrived at Indian Wells after playing just one of the two WTA 1000 events in the Middle East since the end of the Australian Open. She lost to Sakkari in the quarterfinals at Doha, Qatar.
Regarding sitting out the tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to train at home in Poland, Swiatek said, “I felt like I needed some time on the practice court also. Remember that Australia was pushed, so we got one week less between the tournaments to practice. Yeah, I felt like I could do this grind and really, like, solid work training block in Warsaw. It’s always helpful, for sure.”
She made it back in time for Indian Wells, where her record is stellar. Swiatek is the first WTA player since 2014 to reach the round of 16 at the BNP Paribas Open six years in a row.
Swiatek’s fourth-round foe will be 13th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, who breezed past Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic 6-0, 6-3.
Defending champion Mirra Andreeva of Russia couldn’t escape the third round, falling 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 to the Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova.
The 2-hour, 48-minute marathon featured 42 total break points and seven service breaks per player.
“I think you could see it in the match that I was trying to slow it down, you know, just take my time,” Siniakova said. “Yeah, I’m just so happy that I finish it, because my body is feeling it, definitely.”
Fifth-seeded Jessica Pegula of the United States overtook 26th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, but two other U.S. players fell on Monday.
Ninth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine dumped Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 6-2, and Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal rallied past 15th-seeded Madison Keys 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Twelfth-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland eased past 22nd-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-2, 6-3.
In the last match of the night, third-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan was set to oppose 28th-seeded Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
–Field Level Media
