Wednesday at the Miami Open: Swiatek, Badosa aim for semifinal spots

Pulling off the Sunshine Double may be one of the rarest feats in tennis, but Iga Swiatek has made her mission to complete it look easy so far. The Indian Wells champion has dropped just nine games en route to the Miami quarterfinals - an authoritative way to underline her ascension to World No.1 next week.

Indian Wells semifinalist Paula Badosa has also backed up her deep Californian run in style. The Spaniard, who will make her Top 3 debut next week, has also reached the last eight in Miami without dropping a set.

Though only three players - Stefanie Graf, Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka - have ever won Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back, consecutive deep runs at the two events aren't that unusual. Between 1996 (when Indian Wells was upgraded to Tier I status) and 2017, at least one player reached the semifinals of both tournaments every year except 1997, 2004, 2007 and 2010.

If both Swiatek and Badosa win Wednesday, it will mark the fifth time since 2001 that two Indian Wells semifinalists have gone on to reach the Miami semifinals as well. The previous occasions were in 2003 (Clijsters and Jennifer Capriati), 2005 (Clijsters and Maria Sharapova), 2008 (Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic) and 2015 (Serena Williams and Simona Halep).

Here's what stands in their way:

[28] Petra Kvitova (CZE) vs. [2] Iga Swiatek (POL)

Rising to World No.1 thanks to the sudden retirement of Ashleigh Barty, and the Australian's consequent removal from the rankings, is an unusual way of taking the top spot. But Swiatek has squashed any idea that she might be rattled by it. Instead, she's simply been even more dominant.

Last month, she went three sets against Viktorija Golubic in Doha. This week, Swiatek dropped just two games to the Swiss player. Her last meetings with Madison Brengle and Coco Gauff were tight two-setters. Here, she conceded three games to Brengle and four to Gauff to extend her winning streak to 14.

"I was in a good mood today and good zone," she said after defeating Gauff. "I was really focused, so sometimes I have these kind of moments where I don't even know what the score is. That's nice, because you're just focusing on tennis and tactics and technique."

Swiatek's next test will be a first-time encounter against two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova. The Czech has put a stuttering start to 2022 behind her to reach her third Miami quarterfinal; she previously made this stage in 2014 and 2019. She reeled off the last six games of her fourth round to defeat Veronika Kudermetova 7-6(5), 6-4.

But in 11 previous appearances, Kvitova has yet to reach the Miami semifinals or to defeat a Top 10 player here.

Head-to-head: 0-0.

Head to Head

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paula badosa

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ESP

More Head to Head

25% Win 1

- Matches Played

75% Win 3

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jessica pegula

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USA

[5] Paula Badosa (ESP) vs. [16] Jessica Pegula (USA)

Across Indian Wells and Miami, Badosa has kept demonstrating how her game and the improvements she's made to it are tailor-made for tournaments on slow hard courts. The Spaniard's weight of shot means that she's comfortable grinding out lengthy baseline rallies; her athleticism and ability to strike from defensive positions make her a tough proposition to hit through. This week, Badosa has played less attacking tennis than usual against Marie Bouzkova, Yulia Putintseva and Linda Fruhvirtova, but has still not dropped a set.

Her mental strength - the asset she has repeatedly said is the reason for her ascent into the Top 5 - has also been key to fighting when feeling below par.

"Today was a very tough day for me," she said after defeating 16-year-old sensation Fruhvirtova. "I didn't wake up feeling very well so I didn't know if I would be able to finish the match. I always say I want to be a fighter no matter what so that's what I did today."

Badosa will face her most offensive-minded opponent yet in Miami when she takes on Pegula for the first time. The American has not begun 2022 as consistently as she did 2021, but has been able to shrug off early exits to continue posting deep runs at big events. In Australia, Pegula lost her first two matches but rebounded to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals for the second year running; an opening loss in Indian Wells has been shaken off with a Miami quarterfinal debut.

Head-to-head: 0-0.