Iga Świątek marches into Indian Wells final with dominant 6-2, 6-1 win over Marta Kostyuk
Iga Świątek continued her dominant run at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday, dispatching Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in 69 minutes to reach her second Indian Wells final in her last three appearances.
The decisive 6-2, 6-1 semifinal victory sets the Polish tennis star up with a match against Maria Sakkari of Greece, who won the second semifinal over American Coco Gauff late Friday after two rain delays at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Świątek, the top-ranked player in the world, has not dropped a single set in five matches this year at Indian Wells. She won her first title here in 2022, with a victory over Sakkari in the final.
On Thursday, Świątek fell behind a break to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the first set. Down 4-2 in the first set, Świątek proceeded to win the final four games of the set and the first game of the second before Wozniacki retired from the match with an apparent foot injury.
A day later, the 22-year-old picked up where she left off, winning 10 of the first 12 games while winning 86% of the points on her second serve and converting on four of five break points.
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The loss ended Kostyuk's sensational run at Indian Wells. Seeded 32nd, the 21-year-old won four matches without losing a set until Friday.
In the loss, Kostyuk fell short of becoming just the sixth player seeded 32nd or lower to reach the Indian Wells final in the women’s draw. The first to do that was Jenny Byrne (1989), followed by Kim Clijsters (2005), Naomi Osaka (2018), Bianca Andreescu (2019) and Azarenka (2021).
By reaching the final, Świątek surprisingly becomes the first top seed in the women's draw to reach the final at Indian Wells since Serena Williams in 2016. With a win Sunday, Świątek can become the first top seed to win the BNP Paribas Open title since Victoria Azarenka in 2012.
Świątek also has a chance to join a host of women who have won two BNP Paribas Open titles. Azarenka (Belarus), Maria Sharapova of Russia, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, Clijsters (Belgium), Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Mary Joe Fernandez and Martina Navratilova (United States) have all won two. No woman has won three.
Świątek has won 15 of her last 16 matches at Indian Wells and is 17-2 in four main draw appearances.
Andrew John covers the BNP Paribas Open for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: Iga Świątek tops Marta Kostyuk to reach Indian Wells final
