The Polish world ranking leader defended the title he won last year in California. The failure meant that she missed her chance to follow in the famous footsteps of Martina Navratilova, who has been the only one to do so since 1989, when female tennis players began competing in Indian Wells.
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At the start of the meeting, it was clear that the 21-year-old Rasinian had a very difficult task ahead of him on Friday. She was born in Moscow, but has been representing Kazakhstan since 2019, and her competition imposed her conditions on her and forced her to take the lead with strong and accurate strikes towards the finish line. And when trouble arose, the service came to her aid, knowing how to use it.
The score soon became 3: 0 for Rybakina, who scored blows from deep in the field against coach Tomasz Wiktorowski’s charge like an experienced boxer. On the other hand, Świątek lacked subtlety and coolness in some exchanges.
The defeat 2: 6 in the first set, as well as the course of the match, allowed us to hope to turn the tide of the match. However, the start of the second set deprived fans of the Polish tennis player of illusions, and perhaps she too.
She did not find any arguments to beat a well-behaved rival, but often gave the impression of helplessness and resigned herself to fate. The score soon became 0: 4, and in this period Schvetek won only 6 out of 24 points played. In the next match, the fight took place, even had a chance to break, but the scoreboard showed 0: 5. This is the seventh match in a row that last year’s Wimbledon champion wins.
In the next match, the Polish woman, who had been unmatched a year earlier in both the Indian Wells tournament and the event held immediately afterwards in Miami, defended two match balls and then broke her opponent for the first time in the match. She played with more freedom and energy only when she had nothing left to lose.
The next game – with a score of 2: 5 and a serve – is a return to what happened before, and the representative of Kazakhstan sealed the success after 76 minutes of the match.
Rybakina served seven aces, Polka – one, and both made double faults. The winner’s advantage in this element is also evident in the fact that – although she hit a lot – she decided 82 percent in her favour. after the first administration, for 43 per cent. Świątek, who also did not defend any of the five break points won a total of 37 of his 99 points.
– It was one of my best matches this season, – Rybakina admitted immediately after the victory, but her assessment does not fully reflect the course of the fight, because the Polish tennis player did not look like the tennis player from previous matches in these competitions.
Rybakina confirmed that she was a Świątek “don’t lie” tennis player. This season, she defeated the Polish woman for the third time – in December, she also gave her only four matches at an exhibition event in Dubai, and then eliminated her in the 1/8 finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne, where she also won in two sets, but the duel was more than it was it in ca.
The only victory for the Polish lady in 2021 was in the quarter-finals of the indoor tournament in Ostrava.
Rybakina’s opponent in Sunday’s final will be Aryna Sabalenka, second in the WTA rankings. And the Belarusian in the semi-finals did not give a chance to win in last year’s final, Greek Maria Sakkari, winning 6: 2, 6: 3.
On Sunday, there will be a repeat of the decisive duel at the Australian Open, in which Sabalenka won, as the balance of matches this year was 17-1.
Swiatek in Indian Wells lost more than 600 ranking points, but on Monday she will begin her 51st week as the leader of the WTA list. Her advantage over Sabalenka, who was eliminated here in the second round last year – in the event of the final victory of the Belarusian – will drop to less than 3,000 points.
Rybakina will definitely take the seventh or eighth place and will be the highest in his career. Her position would be better, but at last year’s Wimbledon tournament, which she won, no points were awarded due to the disqualification of tennis players from Russia and Belarus.
Iga Świątek – Jelena Rybakina 0:2 (2:6, 2:6)
AA, PAP
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