Swiatek surges into QF at Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, California — Defending champion Iga Swiatek was home and dry at rainy Indian Wells on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), powering into the quarterfinals (QF) with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Karolina Muchova.

The world No. 2 from Poland needed just 57 minutes to put away Muchova, who took her to three sets in the 2023 French Open final.

Swiatek didn't face a break point as for the third straight match she gave up just two games.

Swiatek, whose first four Indian Wells appearances yielded titles in 2022 and 2024, could become the first woman to lift the trophy three times — and join Martina Navratilova as the only woman to win back-to-back titles in the California desert.

She said the showers that delayed her match by 55 minutes were an extra spur to finish it quickly, especially after the rain came again near the end of the contest.

"On last two games, it was a bit slippery already, but I really wanted to finish," she said. "So I kind of played more risky, but the shots were still in.

"I'm happy that I closed it, for sure, because I knew this big cloud [was] coming," she said.

A brief rain delay in the first game was barely a blip for Denmark's Holger Rune in a 6-4, 6-4 victory over in-form Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas was coming off his first title in nearly a year in Dubai last month, but Rune, ranked 13th, snapped the world No. 9's seven-match ATP win streak with an aggressive game that included 22 winners.

Up 4-3 in the second set, Rune saved a break point with a dazzling between-the-legs shot, racing back to the baseline after a Tsitsipas lob and batting the tweener that dropped perfectly to deny the Greek.

"The tweener — that's the first thing I'm going to check when I get back to my phone," Rune said.

Rune, 21, has struggled since his fourth-round run at the Australian Open, but he improved his record against Tsitsipas to 4-0.