BNP Paribas Open Match Preview
A week ago, were we really wondering if the new and presumably faster surface in Indian Wells might make Swiatek more beatable here? Well, we needn’t have worried about her. The surface hasn’t turned out to be all that much slower, and Swiatek has turned out to be just as commanding on it as she was in the past. Once again, she has kicked her game up a gear or two in the desert; in three matches, she has lost just six games. Even Karolina Muchova, who pushed her to the limit in the Roland Garros final in 2023, could only muster a pair of breadsticks on Tuesday.
Does Zheng stand any chance of doing better? There are a couple of reasons to hope this quarterfinal will be competitive. Like Swiatek, she has shaken off some of her early-season sluggishness this week, and has won her three matches in straight sets as well. And while Swiatek has the overwhelming lead in their head to head—6-1—Zheng won the most recent, and the most important, of those even matches, in the Olympic semifinals in Paris last summer.
Still, recent history says that once Swiatek finds her groove in the spring, she doesn’t lose it again until summer. She seems to be in a pretty good groove right now. Winner: Swiatek—Steve Tignor
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