REDEMPTION TOUR: Swiatek avenges Paris setback, faces Dubai tormentor next

INDIAN WELLS (AFP) — Defending champion Iga Swiatek beat Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday, avenging her Olympics semifinal loss to the Paris Games gold medalist to reach the Last Four at Indian Wells.

The world No. 2 from Poland will get a chance to avenge another upset loss in the semifinals, where she’ll take on Mirra Andreeva — the 17-year-old Russian who stunned her in the quarterfinals at Dubai last month on the way to becoming the youngest-ever WTA 1000 champion.

Swiatek delivered another dominant performance as she continued her bid to become the first woman to win three titles in the California desert.

Swiatek, who won her first Indian Wells title in 2022, could also join Martina Navratilova as the only women to lift the trophy in back-to-back years.

After dropping just two games in each of her first three matches, Swiatek was broken twice as she faced her toughest test so far, but secured the victory with a flourish as she broke Zheng at love in the final game after a brief shower paused play late in the second set.

“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,” Swiatek said.

Swiatek converted all five of her break chances — Zheng twice surrendering her serve in games she led 40-0.

Zheng did manage late breaks in each set, but neither those hiccups nor the brief shower that paused play in the second set proved much of an impediment to Swiatek.

“At the end it got really windy, which made it super tricky,” Swiatek said.

“When the conditions change during the match you need to adjust quickly and it’s not that easy. I’m happy that I was pushing until the end.”

Swiatek admitted she was pleased to avenge her Olympic defeat — a heartbreaking loss on the Philippe Chatrier court where the Polish star has won four French Open titles.

“It’s not nice to lose to anybody, so for sure you want to have a little, like revenge, but it’s nothing personal,” Swiatek said.

She can settle another score against Andreeva, who kept her bid for another prestigious title on track with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Ukrainian veteran Elina Svitolina.

Andreeva belted 23 winners, breaking for a 6-5 lead on the way to taking the first set.

After Svitolina rallied from a 1-3 deficit to level the second, Andreeva won the last three games.

“I really like the way I play right now,” Andreeva said, but added that her recent win over Swiatek would mean nothing when they meet again on Friday.

“(Friday) is going to be a new day, new match, new conditions, new country,” she said. “Everything is different.”

Australian Open champion Madison Keys moved smoothly into the semis with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over former world No. 4 Belinda Bencic.

Coming off a tough three-set win over Donna Vekic, Keys fired 30 winners to wrap up the victory in 64 minutes.

Keys, ranked a career-high fifth in the world after denying Aryna Sabalenka a third straight Australian Open title, could face the Belarusian world No. 1 again for a place in Sunday’s final.

Sabalenka took on 25th-ranked Russian Liudmila Samsonova in the last quarterfinal.