World number one Iga Swiatek overpowered Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-1 on Friday to reach the final at the ATP-WTA Indian Wells Masters.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who won the 2022 Indian Wells title, needed just 69 minutes to get past 32nd-ranked Ukrainian Kostyuk and will face either third-ranked US Open champion Coco Gauff or ninth-ranked Maria Sakkari of Greece in Sunday’s final.
“I’m happy with the performance,” said Swiatek, who didn’t face a break point. “I think it was the cleanest match I played here.”
Although she has reached the final without dropping a set, Swiatek had insisted after prior victories that she had a few things in her game to sort out.
It looked as if she had as she put Kostyuk on the run early, piling on the pressure with her precision and power.
The Ukrainian, playing in her first 1000 level semi-final, had fallen behind 3-0 in the second set when she had treatment on her left foot.
When play resumed, it didn’t take long for Swiatek to polish off the victory, clinching it with a service return winner for her fifth break of Kostyuk’s serve.
Gauff-Sakkari Face-Off Delayed
On the other hand, the women’s semi-final between US Open champion Coco Gauff and Greece’s Maria Sakkari was halted by rain Friday with Sakkari up a set in the battle to take on Iga Swiatek in Sunday’s final.
Ninth-ranked Sakkari had taken the opening set 6-4 and Gauff was serving at 15-15 in the first game of the second set when rain hit for the second time in the match.
The players had already waited out a 20-minute delay in the eighth game of the opening set when light rain made it too slippery to play.
When play resumed, Sakkari clawed out the first break of serve of the match to take a 5-4 lead and served out the set before heavier rain set in.
The winner of the match will take on world number one Swiatek in Sunday’s final. Swiatek routed Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-1 in the first semi-final.
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