Defending champion Iga Swiatek's BNP Paribas Open campaign began Saturday with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over American Claire Liu.
The top seed and world No. 1 won the first 11 games of the match inside Stadium 1 before easing to victory in just over an hour, the fifth time this season she's dropped just one game in winning a match.
"Coming back after such a great result last year is something else," Swiatek said on-court in victory. "I wanted to get my level of energy up a little bit, because it's the hardest thing to do when everything goes your way.
"For sure, Claire used that moment when I didn't play as aggressive that I should be, but I'm pretty happy that I was able to close it pretty fast."
The perfect start to her title defense ✨@iga_swiatek drops just one game to reach the third round.#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/VSV0EoCnjt
— wta (@WTA) March 11, 2023
Here are some key numbers from Swiatek's dominant start:
65: Swiatek needed just 65 minutes to open her title defense.
13: The World No.1 improved to 13-3 in 2023 with the win. All 13 of those wins have come in straight sets.
2-0: Swiatek is now 2-0 against 2017 junior Wimbledon winner Liu all-time in the pros. Saturday's win was in stark contrast to her first win: a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 win in Auckland four years ago.
6: The first set was the sixth 6-0 set that Swiatek has won so far this season.
0: Swiatek did not face a break point in victory. In fact, she only lost 11 points in seven service games.
7: Liu won just seven points in the 26-minute opener. Five of those game in the first two games: She got to 30 on Swiatek's serve to open the match, and was broken from 40-15 in the second game.
11: Liu lost the first 11 games of the match before saving the double bagel in the 12th game. Liu, who hails from Thousand Oaks, Calif., served her first ace of the match down 6-0, 5-0, and later saved a match point, en route to holding serve with a cross-court forehand winner past Swiatek at the net.
19: Liu won 19 points total in the second set, and had several opportunities in other games. She got to deuce on Swiatek's serve to start, and had a game point to hold in the third game. She also had a game point serving down 3-0 in the set, after saving two break points, but eventually dropped serve for the fifth and final time.
4: The 6-0, 6-1 win is Swiatek's fourth such win by that score this year. She previously beat Christina Bucsa (Australian Open), Danielle Collins and Veronika Kudermetova (Doha) by that same margin. (She also beat Liudmila Samsonova 6-1, 6-0 in Dubai.)
15: Swiatek hit 15 winners in 13 games. Liu managed only two.
26: The Polish star also forced 26 errors from the American's racquet. Liu only hit nine unforced errors in the match.
Swiatek will next face 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in a battle of former Indian Wells champions. Swiatek won the only previous meeting with Andreescu, a 7-6(2), 6-0 win over the Canadian en route to the Rome title last year.
Andreescu booked her spot in the third round with a gritty effort to upend American wildcard Peyton Stearns 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Highlights: Five stunning rallies from Andreescu's win over Stearns at Indian Wells