Iga Swiatek‘s Indian Wells Open title defense is over after Mirra Andreeva defeated her in an epic battle that saw the former WTA world No. 1 unusually rattled and angry.
Swiatek tasted revenge in the quarterfinal by defeating Qinwen Zheng, over six months after the Chinese player bested her at the 2024 Olympics. The 23-year-old hoped to replicate that success against Andreeva, who recently defeated her in the 2025 Dubai Championships semifinal.
The five-time Grand Slam champion only lost 12 games in her eight sets at this year’s tournament before the semifinal. She was sublime in those matches, requiring a special performance to beat her.
Andreeva entered her match against Swiatek on a 10-match winning streak, which included her previous victory over Swiatek on her way to the title in Dubai and two wins against Elena Rybakina.
Although Andreeva played superbly to secure her maiden WTA 1000 title, the 17-year-old’s level has arguably been even better in Indian Wells, where she had not dropped a set in her four matches leading up to the encounter with Swiatek.
The teenager aimed to apply early pressure by receiving first but Swiatek responded strongly, holding serve to love with all first serves in the opening game.
Both women found a solid rhythm on serve in the first six games, which was impressive given the windy conditions. However, they struggled to return effectively during the initial stages of the set.
Andreeva created the first break point opportunities of the match in the seventh game, going 40-15 up before miscuing a second serve return and unable to put in a first serve, allowing Swiatek to hold.
Despite that setback, Andreeva quickly recovered, breaking serve for a 5-4 lead with a sublime backhand down the line, which put her in position to serve for the first set.
Swiatek refused to go quietly, breaking back and holding her subsequent service game to take a 6-5 lead.
Andreeva appeared to falter when down 0-30, giving Swiatek two points away from the set, but she rallied back with powerful serving to push the set to a tiebreak.
In the tiebreak, Andreeva, with the wind at her back, excelled, winning five of the first six points to take it 7-1 and secure the set 7-6. Swiatek exited the court afterward with a notebook, a habit she has when losing a set.
Swiatek’s coach, Wim Fissette, advised her to add more shape to her shots after the first point of the second set, which elicited an angry response from the four-time French Open champion.
Opting for a more aggressive strategy, Swiatek swiftly broke Andreeva’s serve, which positioned her firmly with an early advantage.
Andreeva struggled to recover from the setback. Swiatek’s relentless baseline hitting forced numerous errors, leading her to take the second set decisively at 6-1.
After a short break, the second set commenced with intense rallies, but Swiatek faltered early, falling to a break.
Andreeva secured a lengthy second game to go up 2-0. Swiatek’s attempt to break back at 1-2 fell short as she missed a crucial volley at 30-0, allowing Andreeva to regain momentum.
The game also saw Swiatek express frustration to the umpire amidst a backdrop of boos from the crowd.
Swiatek faced louder jeers in the following game after hitting a ball directed by the ball boy back to him, which luckily landed past him. Andreeva capitalized, breaking again to lead 4-1.
Responding to the pressure, Swiatek produced her best game of the match, breaking Andreeva to love with stellar returns and to reduce the gap to 3-4.
However, Andreeva, wise beyond her years, held firm and broke back from 0-30 down to secure a 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 victory, earning her place in another WTA 1000 final.
