Iga Swiatek, the No.1 female tennis player in the world, won’t be back-to-back Indian Wells champion after all. The 21-year-old was eliminated in the semi-finals of this year’s BNP Paribas Open tournament by the reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
Rybakina handled Swiatek in convincing fashion to grab a 6-2, 6-2, straight-sets win against the reigning French Open champion. She is the only one to beat Swiatek in straight sets since the Polish player assumed the top of the WTA ranking last April and the only one to do it twice this season.
Rybakina raced to a 3-0 lead to start the match before managing to fend off Swiatek’s comeback attempt at 3-2 to claim the first set. It became obvious that it was her day in the second, as she got to a 5-0 lead and just waited for Swiatek’s next slip to finish the job.
“I really played good today, so thank you so much everybody who came to watch us, it was a really nice atmosphere tonight, and yeah, come to support me on Sunday!” said Rybakina after the match.
Rybakina will now face Aryna Sabalenka in the Indian Wells finals on Sunday for a chance to win her first WTA 1000 title. The two already played in this year’s Australian Open finals, where Sabalenka took a 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 win.
