Iga Swiatek's excellent form since the Australian Open continued after beating Marta Kostyuk to reach the Indian Wells Open final.
The Pole suffered a shock loss in the third round of the Australian Open to Linda Noskova. This led to some questioning Swiatek, but she has proven how foolish these people were to doubt someone of her class.
Swiatek won the WTA 1000 event in Doha last month. In Indian Wells, her last win was against Caroline Wozniacki, who had to retire with an injury. But the 22 year old also did not drop a set in any of her previous matches at the tournament.
In addition, Swiatek has joined an exclusive club after her efforts in Indian Wells. She was guaranteed to secure 100 weeks as the world No. 1 regardless of whether she won or lost against Kostyuk.
Swiatek's Ukrainian opponent has had an outstanding start to the season. Kostyuk has reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, WTA 500 final and WTA 1000 semifinal in 2024. However, her new improved level was not close to enough against the best female player in the world.
The Ukrainian did start the match with an encouragingly comfortable hold of serve. But this proved to be a moment of false optimism for her. Swiatek broke to love in her next return game after some outstanding hitting from the baseline.
There were flashes of what Kostyuk is capable of but this was mixed with too many unforced errors. The fifth game demonstrated this perfectly. Kostyuk hit some great winners to lead 40-15, but then played a series of loose shots to be broken.
Swiatek was locked in. The three-time French Open champion's consistency was typically excellent but her serving particularly stood out. She won 86% of first serve points in the opening set and did not face a break point as she took it 6-2.
There was simply no let-up from Swiatek. She stayed fully focused and did not let her intensity drop for a moment to take a 3-0 lead in the second set. Things got even worse for Kostyuk when she took a medical timeout due to an issue with her foot.
To Kostyuk's credit, she kept fighting and did win another game to make it 4-1, but the world No. 1 then continued her dominance in the last two games. Swiatek triumphed 6-2 6-1 to reach the final without facing a break point.
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