Defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland breezed into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over France's Caroline Garcia on Friday.
In a second-round clash between players who have both been ranked inside the Top 4 of the PIF WTA Rankings, it was No. 2 seed Swiatek who comprehensively prevailed, extending her head-to-head lead over former World No. 4 Garcia to 5-1.
"I [was] solid no matter what the score is, and I don't take [the] next games for granted," Swiatek said afterwards. "If I'm leading even 4-0, I know that I should keep playing the same way and keep the same attitude to just win the match."
0: Swiatek has never lost her opening match at Indian Wells in her five main-draw appearances at the event. Following her first-round bye, Swiatek maintained that record by besting Garcia in 1 hour and 1 minute on Friday.
6-for-9: Swiatek's return game was staggering on Friday, as she converted six of her nine break points. Swiatek won 58 percent of points returning the Garcia first serve, and 75 percent of points when the Frenchwoman was forced to put the second serve into play.
7: Former World No. 1 Swiatek is now on a seven-match winning streak at the BNP Paribas Open. Her last loss in the desert was to eventual champion Elena Rybakina in the 2023 semifinals.
3: Aside from that loss to Rybakina, Swiatek has been flawless at Indian Wells dating back to 2022. She won this title in 2022 and 2024, and she is aiming to become the first woman to hoist the Indian Wells champion's trophy three times.
4: In 2022, Swiatek followed her Indian Wells title by winning the Miami Open, becoming only the fourth player to pull off the Sunshine Double in women's singles. The others are Stefanie Graf (1994 and 1996), Kim Clijsters (2005) and Victoria Azarenka (2016).
37: By beating 71st-ranked Garcia, Swiatek has won her last 37 matches against players ranked outside the Top 50. Swiatek's last loss to a player ranked below No. 50 was to Elina Svitolina in the 2023 Wimbledon quarterfinals -- former World No. 3 Svitolina was ranked No. 76 at the time, during her comeback from maternity leave.
1-1: Swiatek will take on Dayana Yastremska in the third round, after Yastremska beat No. 32 seed Ons Jabeur 6-3, 6-1 earlier on Friday. Yastremska beat Swiatek in their first meeting at Billie Jean King Cup in 2019, but Swiatek finally leveled their head-to-head at 1-1 last month, when she defeated Yastremska in Dubai.
wtatennis.com
New outfit same old Iga :). Bit of rust here and there, but solid match overall.
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