Two-time champion Iga Swiatek reached the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Karolina Muchova on Tuesday, reaching the quarter-finals and continuing his march at Indian Wells.
Former world No. 1 Swiatek has only dropped six games since arriving at California’s desert events, pushing Muchova away with a near-illegal performance.
She aims to become the first woman to win three times in a 1000-level tournament after offering a month of suspension for a failed drug test late last year.
After waiting for the rain delay, Swiatek instantly grasped momentum, sprinting through the first four games, and did not drop the first service point in the opening set.
After recovering from wrist surgery last year, Muchova enjoyed a run inspired by the US Open semi-finals, but was unable to find her level in the second set as mistakes were piled up.
“At times, games can be pretty weird,” Swiatek said. “It’s enough to make one player feel perfect and the other player feel good, and all of a sudden the difference is much bigger than normal.
“We practiced last week and had a pretty similar level. It’s tennis. That kind of thing can happen. But certainly I was using my own opportunity.
Swiatek finished the match in 57 minutes with an unrecoverable serve. She could face tougher tests when she meets Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng.
Kostyuk’s compatriot Elina Svitolina was previously surprised in a match where America’s fourth seed Jessica Pegula 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 stopped for three hours in the rain.
No. 23 seed Svitolina will be in her first quarterfinals in six years riding ninth seed Mira Andreva, who hit 2023 champion Elena Rivakina 6-2, 6-2 in just over an hour.
The 17-year-old Andreeva is on track for consecutive Masters Trophy after running to the Dubai title.
This report uses information from Reuters.