China’s rising tennis star Zheng Qinwen exited the BNP Paribas Open with a 6-3, 6-3 loss to World No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland in the women’s quarterfinals in Indian Wells, California, on Thursday.
World No. 9 Zheng struggled with unforced errors at crucial moments and converted just two of her five break points. Swiatek prevailed in an hour and 35 minutes in a match that was interrupted by bad weather.
The result marked a reversal of their meeting in the semifinals of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, when Zheng defeated the four-time French Open champion 6-2, 7-5 on her way to winning the gold medal.
Swiatek, aiming for her third title in Indian Wells, converted all five of her break point opportunities and won 74 percent of her first-serve points.
The 23-year-old raced to a 5-1 lead in the opening set, but Zheng, 22, rallied by breaking back and holding serve. Swiatek clinched the set in her next service game and then surged to a 4-0 lead in the second set. Despite Zheng’s efforts to mount a comeback, Swiatek secured her place in the semifinals of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 event.
“At the end it got really windy which made it super tricky, especially when the conditions change during the match, you need to adjust quickly and it’s not that easy,” Swiatek said in an on-court interview. “I am happy that I was pushing until the end. It was a weird match with all the breaks and everything, but I wanted to be composed and really focused, and I’m glad that I did that.”
Five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek will face Mirra Andreeva of Russia in the semifinals as she continues her quest for another title.
