Match Recap
Women's Second Round: Swiatek Dominant, Kerber Rallies In Three Sets
4 Min Read · March 8, 2024
Since the BNP Paribas Open’s inception, nine women have won multiple titles at Indian Wells.
2022 champion Iga Swiatek is hungry to become the tenth.
GET TICKETSThe World No.1 looked comfortable and commanding on Stadium 1 on Friday as she powered past American Danielle Collins in a highly anticipated afternoon clash at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
The top-seeded Pole broke open a close match, reeling off the final nine games to defeat the former World No. 7 6-3, 6-0, reaching the third round for the fourth consecutive year.
“I’m happy that I started this tournament well, because first rounds aren’t easy – especially against Danielle, she’s really hitting the ball hard and pretty unpredictable, so I wanted to be ready for everything and I’m happy that I’m through.
It was a bittersweet loss for Collins, who has announced her plans to retire at the end of the season and thus ends her BNP Paribas Open career with a 6-6 lifetime record at the event.
As for Swiatek, the 22-year-old improves to 15-2 on the season, and 6-1 against Collins in their seven previous meetings. Pushed to the brink by the 30-year-old American dynamo at this year’s Australian Open, where she had to rally from two breaks down in the third to win, Swiatek kept her foot on the gas pedal as she earned her 13th career BNP Paribas Open win in one hour and 21 minutes.
“I think I just started to make fewer mistakes to give Danielle a chance to make a few more,” she said after her win. “It’s a small difference, but at the end I was ready to play well in the important moments, break points, and I’m just happy I kept my focus and played my game no matter what Danielle was doing on the other side of the net.
Swiatek will face either Linda Noskova, the woman who knocked her out of the Australian Open in the third round, or Camila Giorgi next.
She’s 36, a new mom, and rising up the rankings once again!
Angelique Kerber brought her own brand of sunshine to Stadium 2 on Friday as she toppled No.10-seeded Jelena Ostapenko for her first Top 10 win since November of 2021, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
“It’s a really important win for me,” Kerber told the crowd. “Coming here, playing against one of the Top 10 players like this, it gives me a lot of confidence.”
The 2019 BNP Paribas Open finalist Kerber, commencing her comeback from maternity leave in January, is rounding into form this month after a slow start to the season that saw her drop six of her first seven matches.
Here in the California desert the 36-year-old defeated Petra Martic in the first round, 6-3, 6-4, before edging 2017 Roland Garros champion Ostapenko in a back-and-forth battle that lasted two hours and 14 minutes.
It was a wild ride from the onset, as Ostapenko squandered a 3-1 lead in the opening set, trailed 5-3, then won the final four games to take the set 7-5.
But the Latvian’s luck would run out in the final two sets as Kerber stepped up her game and earned six breaks of serve as she won five out of the final six games of the second set before winning four of the final five games of the third set to break open the decider from 2-2.
Kerber, who gave birth to her daughter Liana in February of 2023, was beaming after reaching the third round at Indian Wells for the eighth time.
It all feels different this year, for the new mother.
“Life is bigger than this,” she said. “I try to play as early as possible in the day so that I have the rest of the day with the little one.
“I’m just enjoying it. I’m enjoying showing her the world – new people. Sometimes it’s not easy, sometimes you have a little bit less sleep, but I really enjoy it. I have so much power from her, from [the fans], I love tennis, and I love to be back here, playing at this level – it’s just amazing.”
After a globe-trotting two months, American Katie Volynets is having a breakout week in the California desert. The 22-year-old toppled No.6-seeded Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-4 for the biggest win of her career by ranking, and the second Top 10 win of her career.
Volynets, a Walnut Creek, California native, took out teen sensation Mirra Andreeva in the first round and has reached the third round at Indian Wells for the first time.
“I think it’s a product of all the hard work that we started in December,” the American said. “I ended last year with an injury, so I stopped playing in October.”
Volynets needed some time to heal her injured wrist, then started 2024 with a new coach, Alejandro Dulko, the brother of former WTA pro Gisela Dulko. She has a new perspective to match.
