Andreeva upsets Swiatek to reach Indian Wells final
Mirra Andreeva battled past Iga Swiatek in three sets on Friday in Indian Wells. Andreeva will face either Aryna Sabalenka or Madison Keys in the final.
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The rise of 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva continues.
Andreeva beat Iga Swiatek for the second time in the last two tournaments and extended her overall winning streak to 11 matches with a 7-6 (1), 1-6, 6-3 victory in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open on Friday evening. The Russian advanced after two hours and 17 minutes of play at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Palm Springs, California.
After splitting the first two sets, Andreeva regained control early in the third. The recent Dubai champion seized a double-break advantage at 4-1 before giving one of the breaks back. However, she quickly built her lead to 5-3 and wrapped up the proceedings in style with yet another break of the Swiatek serve.
Swiatek held her first two service games at love and dropped a total of one point in her first three service games, but it was Andreeva who seized the initial break in set one. The No 2 seed broke back to force a tiebreak only to see Andreeva dominate it seven points to one.
Set two was all Swiatek. The 23-year-old Pole broke right away and never looked back. In fact, the only game Andreeva managed to win was a service hold for 1-2.
However, the would be one more momentum swing in a topsy-turvy match. Andreeva raced to a 2-0 advantage and kept her lead the entire rest of the way.
“In the second set I tried to do something but she was just [overwhelming] me,” the No 9 seed said in an interview with the Tennis Channel. “I said, ‘let’s see if she can do that against me in the third set, as well.’ I just tried to play point by point…. I cannot say anything good about the second set from my side. I raised my level in the third set and just tried to focus on the next point.”
Andreeva will battle either Aryna Sabalenka or Madison Keys for the title on Sunday.
The world No 11 previously defeated Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva (7-5, 6-4), Dane Clara Tauson, the No 22 seed (6-3, 6-0), Kazakh Elena Rybakina, the No 7 seed (6-1, 6-2) and Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, the No 23 seed (7-5, 6-3).
Swiatek, who had won this tournament twice in the previous three years, advanced to the last four by taking out Caroline Garcia (6-2, 6-0), Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska (6-0, 6-2), No 15 seed Karolina Muchova (6-1, 6-1) and Chinese Qinwen Zheng, the No 8 seed (6-3, 6-3).
Indian Wells WTA 1000, other semi-final result:
- Aryna Sabalenka vs. Madison Keys
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