Swiatek quietens the chaos to advance at Indian Wells

World No 1 Iga Swiatek said she is still prone to moments of chaos during matches but is pleased with the way she is able to overcome them after her hard-fought victory over Bianca Andreescu to reach the fourth round at Indian Wells.

Swiatek rallied from 2-4 down in the second set and staved off a late comeback attempt from the Canadian former champion to seal a 6-3 7-6(1) win and set up a meeting with Briton Emma Raducanu.

The top seed said she had hoped before the tournament began that she would face “stressful moments” and that she was happy with how she had got through them.

“Well, most of the time I feel like I have improved, but there are some matches where I feel like a  bit in chaos, and I don’t know which way to go that it’s going to work,” Swiatek told reporters.

“But honestly, it’s not happening often. In more cases I kind of choose the right solution, and then I’m playing better. Then the momentum changes and I just go with the flow.”

Swiatek beat Raducanu in straight sets the last time they met, on the clay courts of Stuttgart in 2022, but the Pole said slow conditions in Indian Wells could make the upcoming match a bit tricky.

“I think after Stuttgart, I just know how her shots feel on the racket, because before I haven’t even practised with her,” Swiatek said. “So it helps that way, but on the other hand, it’s great because we’re playing on hard court, and there it was clay, but actually this surface is slower.

“I think I have to really take care of tactics anyway, and we’ll see. Honestly, like every day is different. Stuttgart match was like almost a year ago.”

Reuters