Iga Swiatek played against Danielle Collins once more, but this time around, things went smoothly, and she won in two sets at the 2024 Indian Wells Open.
This WTA 1000 event in California has been rather interesting for Swiatek in the past. She won it a couple of years ago but also lost quite early last year to Elena Rybakina.
It should be a court that plays tremendously for her, but she's shown some struggle with it. This matchup against Collins featured some struggles in the past as well, but there was no struggle in their match this time around.
It was actually the second time they played this year, and they faced each other in Melbourne as well. Collins could win a set that day as fast courts played well for her. She couldn't do that today because she couldn't quite create too much pressure on Swiatek.
The Polish player is a sensational mover and was on most balls. When she has time to unload, it's even better. Due to the relatively high bounce in Indian Wells during the day, Swiatek had perfect conditions to exploit this matchup, and that's what she did.
The opening set was a bit wonky because she took a few games to settle in, but once she did, she took over. The score was 6-3, and it mostly came from her exploiting Collins's second serve.
The second set opened with an early break, which became a double-break lead not long after that. Collins struggled to create a lot of pressure on her opponent and didn't have the best day hitting-wise either.
That allowed Swiatek to take one more break and the 5-0 lead. She then closed it out with a bagel even though Collins had chances to save herself from that fate.
It was a really strong start for Swiatek, 6-3, 6-0, who looks every bit the number one rank that she currently occupies.