Poland’s Iga Swiatek and Romania’s Simona Halep wasted no time winning their quarterfinal matches at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., on Wednesday.
Swiatek, the tournament’s third seed, routed the Untied States’ Madison Keys 6-1, 6-0 in 56 minutes. Halep, the 24th seed, needed only 53 minutes to eliminated Croatia’s Petra Martic 6-1, 6-1.
“I was getting tired a little bit so I wanted to make it quick,” Swiatek said.
Swiatek won 84 percent of her first-serve points and 59 percent of Keys’ first-serve points. She earned his ninth consecutive match victory, as she arrived in Indian Wells coming off a championship run at Doha, Qatar, last month.
Swiatek was still complimentary toward her opponent, saying, “Madison played a great tournament. Her whole season is pretty great. I didn’t really know if I was going to be able to push back her speed, because she can play pretty fast. I wanted to stay low on my legs and control it a little more.”
Halep converted all five of her break points and saved all three of Martic’s break opportunities.
“I feel like I played my best tennis so far this year,” Halep said. “I knew it was going to be a tough match against her. … Today I felt great. I’ve been on a mission. I just wanted to be focused on what I had to do.”
Swiatek and Halep will square off in a semifinal match on Friday, with Halep holding a 2-1 edge in their prior meetings.
“She’s playing some good tennis right now,” Swiatek said of Halep. “She’s really consistent. … She’s in great shape. It’s going to be a tough match — it’s always like that against Simona. For me, it’s going to be a test. I can see how much I’ve improved, because I feel like my tennis is changing.”
Halep said of Swiatek, “Tough, tough match, because she’s playing the best tennis of her life. She’s in the best moment. I expect a really tough one. But I’m here in the semifinal, so I’ll take that. I’ll just try my best.”
–Field Level Media