Swiatek at Indian Wells poses sternest challenge yet in Andreeva’s remarkable recent surge
The defending champion is to meet rising Russian Andreeva in the semi-finals of Indian Wells
Mirra Andreeva, Indian Wells, 2025 © Zuma / Psnewz
The rise of Mirra Andreeva over the past two years has made for truly compelling viewing.
Since the young Russian’s dynamic arrival on the WTA Tour as a 15-year-old, coming off the back of two Challenger titles to reach the last 16 on her tour debut in Madrid in 2023, Andreeva has consistently continued to push the boundaries of her own remarkably early success.
That Madrid Open charge preceded runs through qualifying to reach the third and fourth rounds of Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, her two maiden appearances in Grand Slams, later that same summer. This was then followed by a second full season on tour across which Andreeva continued to make steady, productive progress – namely in the shape of her first WTA title at the Iasi Open, as well as rising from 46th to 16th in the world.
Over the past two weeks, however, Andreeva has suddenly surged again to reach the level it’d long been suspected this young player could compete at.
The now world No 11 won her second WTA title, a 1000-level crown, storming the field in Dubai with a superb run to the title during which she beat Iga Swiatek and two former Wimbledon champions in Elena Rybakina and Marketa Vondrousova.
Andreeva has fully backed up that breakthrough title with another excellent showing in Indian Wells this fortnight, dispatching Rybakina for the second time in as many weeks en route to the last four without the drop of a set.
swiatek – formidable at indian wells – up next for andreeva
But Andreeva now faces the most interesting challenge of her recent rise when she takes on defending champion Swiatek in the Californian desert.
Beating the Pole at Indian Wells is one of the most challenging tests in women’s tennis right now, perhaps one not far below the intimidating task of facing Swiatek at Roland-Garros. She is a two-time champion in the desert, having compiled a current streak of ten straight match wins and 20 consecutive sets.
There have been plenty of contrasting opinions about the speed of the new courts at Indian Wells this year. But what is now plainly evident is that they have retained their tight grip of the ball, with the result being a bounce as high if not higher than in previous years, lending itself to conditions already favourable towards topspin-heavy games.
As someone whose entire game is built around her heavy use of topspin, facing Swiatek in these conditions only makes a formidable task yet more daunting.
Swiatek is on a ten-match winning streak at this tournament, while Andreeva is on a ten-match winning streak on tour. Something will have to give on Friday when Andreeva comes up against the world No 2 at Indian Wells for the first time, a match that will pose the sternest challenge in the Russian’s recent rise so far.
It now seems clear that Andreeva’s vast potential will be fulfilled. The past two weeks have demonstrated that she has the capability to disrupt the WTA’s current established order and be a consistent threat to those at the very top of the game.
Whether the immediacy of that threat comes sooner or later for Andreeva will hinge in large part on the crucial outcome of her meeting with Swiatek at Indian Wells.
