Swiatek maneuvered to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over former World No.1 and fellow Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber of Germany, in their first meeting.
Not only was Swiatek once more down a set, but she also had to charge back from a break down in the third set before booking a spot in the first Indian Wells quarterfinal of her career.
Words from the winner: "For sure it was really hard playing against her," said Swiatek. "She's such an experienced player.
"At the end I think I made the right decisions in the right time, in the right moments of the match. I'm pretty happy about that because in important moments in second and third [sets], I was winning points. That's the most important thing."
"Obviously you learn from that first set and you can use that. I think I'm doing that pretty well. But for sure my goal is to win every set. On my next match, I'm going to be ready to win that first one."
On a roll: 2020 Roland Garros champion Swiatek took 2 hours and 8 minutes to knock out 15th-seeded Kerber, who has three Grand Slam titles to her credit and was the BNP Paribas Open runner-up in 2019 (falling to Bianca Andreescu in that final).
Like she had in her two preceding matches this week against Anhelina Kalinina and Clara Tauson, Swiatek had to battle back from a one-set deficit. But Swiatek prevailed to extend her winning streak to eight victories in a row -- her most consecutive wins since last year's clay-court season.
This current winning streak has all come at WTA 1000 events, where she still is yet to suffer a loss this season. In the first WTA 1000 event of the year, Swiatek claimed the title in Doha, defeating Anett Kontaveit in the final.
Swiatek leads the tour in overall victories in 2022, with 17 match-wins on tour this season. This latest victory over Kerber is also her 15th career win over a Top 20 player, and her fourth against that group so far this year.
Match moments: After an early exchange of breaks, Kerber took charge in the first set with a break for 3-2 after two straight double faults by Swiatek. Kerber let a 5-2 double-break lead slide back to 5-4, but the German held on to capture the one-set lead.
In the second set, a run of five straight breaks put Swiatek ahead 4-2, and the Pole ended that streak with a commanding love hold to take a sturdy 5-2 lead. In the next game, Swiatek drew errors from Kerber to clinch another service break and tie up the match.
Swiatek started the third set with two more love holds, but Kerber still struck first in the decider, slamming a backhand winner to break for 3-2. However, Swiatek regrouped and finished off a rally with a forehand winner on break point in the very next game, reclaiming parity.
That unlocked a dominant run for Swiatek, who held at love once more, then earned another break of the Kerber serve to lead 5-3. An unreturnable serve closed out the match in the next game, and Swiatek had once again pulled off a three-set comeback.
Keys awaits in quarterfinals: Swiatek will now take on No.25 seed Madison Keys of the United States in the elite eight. Keys powered past British qualifier Harriet Dart 6-1, 6-4 in just over an hour to notch a BNP Paribas Open quarterfinal spot for the first time in her career.
Swiatek won her only previous meeting with Keys in straight sets, en route to the title on the clay courts of Rome last year.
Boy, Iga just loves those 3 set comebacks in the desert doesn't she? :D
That's 8 straight wins now for Iga, I certainly hope she gets the first set tomorrow against Madison Keys.
Girl needs a straight sets win.
She may be twenty but that's gotta be tiring, mentally especially. First night match of the tournament for her as well, I really hope it's not windy and works to her advantage.
Jazda Iga!
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