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Iga Swiatek is confidently heading for her title defence in Indian Wells. On Thursday, the World No.1 defeated Sorana Cirstea. With this win, she joined an extremely elite group.
Swiatek is continuing to make progress; she breezed through to the semi-finals of the WTA Indian Wells tournament with ease. The top-ranked player beat Sorana Cirstea 6:2, 6:3.
World No.1 set harsh conditions from the very beginning. She made a great start to the match, winning the first two sets. Cirstea managed to break her and draw 2:2, but then she had no chance. Swiatek won the first set 6:3.
In the second set, the Pole was even more consistent and effectively executed the outlined plan, which finally led her to victory in the entire match.
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The fourth player to win 16+ main draw matches in a row at the Sunshine Double
This is her 16th consecutive win at the Sunshine Double. It is the name that describes the struggle in Indian Wells and Miami. In 2022, the Pole won both events.
By achieving this feat, she became a member of an incredibly small group of all-time greats. To date, only Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams have been able to win that many games in a row in such competitions.
In the semifinal, Swiatek will be up against Elena Rybakina. This match-up is especially significant for Swiatek, as it was Rybakina who defeated her in the Australian Open tournament.