Iga Swiatek did not need to stretch her talent to reach her second final in Indian Wells after her title in California in 2022 against Maria Sakkari. On Friday, the world number 1 just had to bend down to pick up the gifts offered by her opponent in the semi-finals, the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk (6-2, 6-1).
At this level in a WTA 1000 for the first time in her career, the 21-year-old player, 32nd in the world, completely missed the event. She, who has nevertheless worked on her negative attitude in recent months with her trainer, Sandra Zaniewska, very quickly showed signs of feverishness and annoyance. Her desperate and annoyed looks towards her clan, after only a few minutes of play, did not encourage optimism for the recent quarter-finalist of the Australian Open.
Swiatek almost invincible when she wins the first set
And despite a first game in his favor, this was quickly confirmed: ten points lost in a row, a first engagement given up, then a second and, in barely thirty minutes, a set behind. Her messy errors, from the serve and the return, even on second balls, and her inability to hold on to the exchange in the face of the heaviness and depth of the Polish strikes never allowed her to really engage the arm of iron, despite some nice accelerations along the line.
300
This is the 300th victory of Iga Swiatek’s career in just 368 matches.
In the middle of a second round that was already off to a very bad start (3-0, double break), Kostyuk, visibly uncomfortable with her left toe, even called on the trainer. That didn’t bother Swiatek, who hit a few serves and played shadow tennis during the medical timeout to avoid getting cold.
Almost invincible in WTA 1000 when she won the first set – 68 victories, 1 defeat (retirement against Elena Rybakina in Rome in 2023) – the four-time Grand Slam winner did not defy the statistics and folded the affair in 1h09 on a winning forehand return.