Indian Wells: Swiatek sets quarterfinal clash vs. Wozniacoki

Iga Swiatek eased into her third consecutive quarterfinal at the BNP Paribas Open after defeating No.79 Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday night.

The victory sets up a quarterfinal showdown against former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday. The Dane advanced to her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since 2019 by defeating Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-2 earlier in the evening.

“I think she’s playing great even after the maternity break,” Swiatek said on court. “She was fighting to come back.

“I have huge respect. I’m going to prepare like any other, but off the court she’s a great person.”

The victory improved Swiatek to 17-2, tying her with Elena Rybakina and Emma Navarro for the most wins this year.

“I just knew I had to keep my focus because she was trying some different stuff out there,” Swiatek said, referring to Putintseva’s underarm serve in the second set. “But I really wanted to just play my game and focus on what I wanted to do.”

“I can only be responsible for what’s going on with me,” Swiatek told reporters. “I want to keep my standards high no matter what’s going on, and I think this match was a test for my mental training that I did. I’m happy with the way I was focused and really just, I didn’t really care about what’s going on. I’m prepared that many things can happen on court.”

Swiatek is playing a WTA 1000 tournament as the top seed for the 12th time in her career, trailing only Serena Williams (26) and Wozniacki (13). A champion in Doha last month, Swiatek is bidding to win her second title of the season this week. She has not lost before the semifinal stage at a WTA 1000 tournament since 2023 Rome.