Iga Swiatek's Indian Wells run sees her break Serena Williams record

Swiatek always seems at home at Indian Wells and the 2022 and 2024 champion at this event was in ominous form once again as she overwhelmed Muchova as the rain subsided in California to allow play to get underway after a short delay.

"I felt great," said Swiatek after the match. "I was able to adjust (after the rain delay). I'm happy about that.

"I used all my chances and I'm pretty happy I played with such confidence and could finish it quickly before the rain started [again]."

The win allowed Swiatek to improve her record in W1000 tournaments as she became the player with the highest percentage of quarter-finals reached in WTA-1000 events (61.8%, 21 from 34 tournaments) since the format's introduction in 2009.

That moved her ahead of the great Serena Williams, who is in second place in that list, as she made it through to the quarter-finals on 61.2% of the tournaments she competed in at this level in her remarkable career.

Since 1989, only Monica Seles and Steffi Graf (33 each) secured 30 combined wins in fewer matches in Indian Wells and Miami than Iga Swiatek (34, equalling Chris Evert and Venus Williams).

In addition, only Lindsay Davenport (six, 1993-1998) and Martina Hingis (five, 1998-2002) have made more consecutive quarter-finals than Iga Swiatek in Indian Wells since the tournament's inception in 1989 (four, 2022-2025).

They are impressive statistics that highlight the consistency Swiatek is serving up and she admits she is relishing the conditions in Indian Wells, after a new company was hired to install the courts this year.

"I feel like it's fine. Still a slow, bouncy court. So it's pretty much the same, but maybe it's a bit different. It's hard for me to say," she said.

"I said from the beginning that we are coming back after a whole year playing on different surfaces anyway. So it's hard to really compare the same way as I would after playing one week on one and the other one on the other surface.

"There is a little bit of a difference between the center court and the practice courts, but this is what we have at most of the tournaments."

This latest win also kept Swiatek in the race to replace Aryna Sabalenka at the top of the WTA Rankings and while the Polish star will not overhaul her rival in this tournament, she is in the kind of form that will allow her to push for top spot in the next few months. 

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