Tennis: Świątek overcomes Andreescu to reach fourth round at Indian Wells

Poland’s Iga Świątek defeated former U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu 6-3 7-6(1) to make it to the fourth round at Indian Wells on Monday and set up a meeting with Emma Raducanu, who notched up her biggest win since her own run to the Flushing Meadows title.

The top seed has been in superb form on hardcourts since the Australian Open, capturing the Doha title and reaching the final in Dubai, and the Polish player looked set for another comfortable win after cruising through the opening set.

The reigning U.S. Open champion found herself in trouble at 2-4 in the next set but battled back to close out the match in the tiebreak.

Driving it home 👊

No.1 seed @iga_swiatek moves past Andreescu in a tight 6-3, 7-6(1) win!#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/s9SfGzupLg

— wta (@WTA) March 14, 2023

“She (Andreescu) changed the rhythm pretty well and with this surface it can get tough… But I’m pretty happy I was solid most of the times, at least,” Świątek said.

“And that I could be recomposed in the tiebreak because I really knew that I could get my focus up. I’m even glad that I got a chance to kind of play under pressure some more and see how I’m going to cope with it,” the world number one went on to say.

Stays winning 🇵🇱@iga_swiatek | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/U8SMCi82Nq

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 14, 2023

Unseeded Raducanu, who has been sidelined by injuries and illnesses that have kept her out of action since the Australian Open, earlier beat 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-1 2-6 6-4.

The Brit will have her work cut out against in-form Świątek who successfully defended her Qatar TotalEnergies Open title with the loss of just five games in February. It was the Pole’s 12th career title and seventh on outdoor hard courts.