Rybakina sweeps past Swiatek 6-2, 6-2 to reach Indian Wells final

Elena Rybakina effortlessly defeated top-seeded Ida Swiatek 6-2, 6-2 on Friday to progress to the BNP Paribas Open final.

SUPERB PERFORMANCE!

Elena Rybakina dominates World No. 1 Iga Świątek to advance to the @BNPParibasOpen final!

The World No. 10 will face Aryna Sabalenka for the title 🔥 pic.twitter.com/BgWnl7OiVL

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 18, 2023

Rybakina needed only 76 minutes to see off her rusty opponent, whose dream of retaining the title from last year came to an abrupt end. The Kazakhstani star converted 82% of her first-serve points, while Swiatek could only manage a disappointing 42%.

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The Polish star got beaten up once again from Rybakina as the two clashed in the Australian Open in January, where Rybakina finished runner-up.

“I didn’t expect that I was going to play that good today,” Rybakina said.

“I had nothing to lose, I just wanted to come and enjoy. I played one of the best matches this year.”

The current World No.10 will meet second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, who also won a convincing 6-2, 6-3 semi-final match against Maria Sakkari, in the final on Sunday. The match will be played in the Southern California desert.

“It’s going to be huge,” said Sabalenka, who won the doubles title in 2019.

“This tournament feels like a Grand Slam. I really want to hold this trophy as a singles champion.”