WTA Indian Wells: Swiatek, Sabalenka face tough opposition to setting up final showdown
Swiatek v Rybakina and Sabalenka v Gauff are the projected semi-finals in Indian Wells
Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka at the 2022 WTA Finals in Fort Worth
Image Credit: Zuma / Panoramic
Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, the world’s top two-ranked players, will have to navigate their way through a loaded draw if they wish to set up a final showdown at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells this year.
Swiatek, the 2022 Indian Wells champion, received a bye in the first round as did the other top 32 seeds but then gets American Danielle Collins or a qualifier in the second round. Collins, who has announced that 2024 will be her final season on the tour, stretched Swiatek to three sets at the Australian Open in January and also beat the Pole in Melbourne two years ago. If the four-time Grand Slam champion gets past her opening match, she could face 26th seed Linda Noskova in the third round. The Czech teen ended Swiatek’s bid for a first Australian Open title in the third round this year.
Also in this section is Great Britain’s Katie Boulter, who broke into the world’s top 30 after winning her biggest career title at the San Diego Open on Sunday but is unseeded. The Brit will face Italy’s Camila Giorgi in her first round.
Jabeur could get Andreeva rematch in second round
Swiatek’s projected quarter-final opponent is Ons Jabeur, the No 6 seed. The Tunisian, who has a meagre 2-3 record this season, will get a rematch against 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the second round. Andreeva, who takes on American wildcard Katie Volynets in the opening round, beat Jabeur in the second round of the Australian Open this year. Jabeur could run into 25th seed Donna Vekic or former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the third round while former Grand Slam winners – 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko, Venus Williams and Angelique Kerber – could be potential fourth round opponents.
43-year-old Williams, who has never been past the semi-finals in Indian Wells, will play a qualifier in her opening match in what will be her first tournament since the 2023 US Open. Kerber faces Petra Martic as she aims for her first win on the regular WTA Tour since her comeback from maternity leave in January. The 36-year-old did win a match at the combined men’s and women’s United Cup event in January while representing Germany.
Defending champion Elena Rybakina, who holds a 3-2 edge in head-to-head against Swiatek, is the projected semi-final opponent for the Pole. The Kazakh will meet either 2021 Indian Wells champion Paula Badosa or a qualifier in the second round.
A possible fourth round clash could be with either 13th seed Jamine Paolini or 21st seed Anna Kalinskaya, who could clash in the third round in a repeat of last month’s Dubai Open final that Paolini won.
Seventh seed Marketa Vondrousova, who won the Wimbledon title in July, is seeded seventh and is projected to meet Rybakina in the last eight. The Czech woman could face San Diego runner-up Marta Kostyuk in the third round and 12th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia or former French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the round of 16.
Gauff and Osaka could clash in the fourth round
US Open champion and third seed Coco Gauff will open her campaign against either France’s Clara Burel or China’s Wang Xiyu, a finalist in Austin last week. The American has 32nd seed Anhelina Kalinina in her third round section and 14th seed Liudmila Samsonova in her round of 16 draw.
Former world No 1 and 2018 Indian Wells winner Naomi Osaka is in that same section and opens up against a qualifier in the first round and could then meet Samsonova in the second. If Gauff and Osaka advance to the fourth round, the two superstars will face each other.
Gauff’s potential quarter-final opponent is eighth seed and Australian Open runner-up Qinwen Zheng. Zheng could meet Austin champion and countrywoman Yue Yuan as early as the second round and two-time BNP Paribas Open winner Victoria Azarenka in the third round. 11th seed Daria Kasatkina and 19th seed Sorana Cirstea are potential fourth round foes for Zheng.
Pegula could face Sakkari and former coach David Witt in the fourth round
World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who suffered an early exit in Dubai after successfully defending her Australian Open title in January, opens up against Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto or America Peyton Stearns in the second round. The Belarusian could meet 30th seed Dayana Yastremska, a semi-finalist in Melbourne, or former US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the third round. Raducanu, who received a wild card entry, faces a qualifier in the first round.
Sabalenka’s potential fourth-round opponents include 16th seed Elina Svitolina, who is enjoying a strong comeback since returning from a maternity break last year, and rising American Emma Navarro, seeded 23rd this year.
The Belarusian is projected to meet fifth seed Jessica Pegula in the last eight. The American will face either former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova, who has won 11 of her last 12 matches on tour, or the dangerous Anna Blinkova, who beat Pegula in San Diego just last week, in the second round.
A third-round clash with former US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez and a fourth-round showdown with ninth seed Maria Sakkari could emerge for Pegula in this section. Interestingly, Pegula’s former coach David Witt, who worked with the American for more than five years and only parted ways last month, is now coaching Sakkari. The Greek player has 20th seed Caroline Gacia and former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin as possible third round opponents.
