Top-ranked Iga Świątek cruised past Marta Kostyuk with a 6-2, 6-1 victory on Friday night, securing her spot in the BNP Paribas Open final. With this win, Swiatek extends her remarkable record to 19-2 for the year, leading the WTA Tour in match victories.
Awaiting her in Sunday’s final will be the winner of the semifinal clash between third-seeded Coco Gauff and No. 9 seed Maria Sakkari. Swiatek holds a dominant record against Gauff, having won nine of their 10 career meetings, and has secured victories in three out of five encounters against Sakkari.
Swiatek, who previously claimed the 2022 tournament amidst a 37-match winning streak, has shown exceptional form in this year’s competition. She advanced to the semifinals when Caroline Wozniacki retired trailing 6-4, 1-0 in their quarterfinal, and has only conceded 17 games up to this point.
Despite Kostyuk’s commendable 17 winners to Swiatek’s 14, the Polish sensation outshone her opponent in nearly every aspect of the game, not allowing a single break point.
Swiatek’s precise serving, with a 74% first-serve rate and 83% first-serve points won, coupled with her composed performance on a chilly and windy evening in the Southern California desert, sealed her victory.
Reflecting on her flawless display, Swiatek remarked in an on-court interview, “It was the cleanest match I played here. I didn’t have any moment today in the match where I didn’t feel confident.”
In the men’s doubles final, Nikola Mektic of Croatia and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands emerged victorious over fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, securing the title with a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) win.
