World No.1 Iga Swiatek has learned her projected path to defending the Indian Wells title. Swiatek, the top seed, has a first-round bye in the desert. In her tournament debut, Swiatek will face the winner of the match, Alison Van Uytvanck and Claire Liu.
In the third round, Swiatek could have her first big test in the desert, as she is projected to play 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu. In the round of 16, Swiatek could face Emma Raducanu, Beatriz Haddad Maia or even Australian Open 2023 semifinalist Magda Linette.
In the quarterfinals, Swiatek could face reigning WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia or other top 20 players such as Liudmila Samsonova and Madison Keys. When it comes to the semifinal stage, expect Swiatek to face several big names: Ons Jabeur, Elena Rybakina, Paula Badosa, Victoria Azarenka or Daria Kasatkina.
In Indian Wells, the projected final is between top seed Swiatek and second seed Aryna Sabalenka. However, Sabalenka is definitely not the only big name from her part of the draw, as there are also Jessica Pegula, Cori Gauff, Belinda Bencic and Maria Sakkari.
The potential path of 🇵🇱 Iga ÅšwiÄ…tek – WTA 1000 Indian Wells 🠆
R1: bye
R2: Liu/Van Uytvanck
R3: Andreescu/Stearns
R4: Haddad Maia/Linette/Raducanu
QF: Garcia/Samsonova/Keys
SF: Jabeur/Kasatkina/Rybakina/Azarenka/Badosa
F: Sabalenka/Pegula/Sakkari/Gauff/Bencić/Krejcikova📸 Jimmie48 pic.twitter.com/BBnzz0jZ9m — From the court – tennis information | tennis news (@z_kortu) March 6, 2023
Swiatek hopes to defend his Indian Wells title
Last year, Swiatek defeated Maria Sakkari in the Indian Wells final to lift her first title in the desert.
Now, 21-year-old Swiatek is the top favorite to defend her Indian Wells title and win back-to-back titles in the tennis haven. Lately, Swiatek has played well. In mid-February, Swiatek won Doha with a total of five matches lost during the tournament.
After Doha, Swiatek also reached the final in Dubai. In the Dubai final, Swiatek unexpectedly suffered a loss to Barbora Krejcikova. Although Swiatek failed to win back-to-back titles in Doha and Dubai, many still have her as her top favorite to win it all in Indian Wells as she still played extremely well during the Middle East tour. Whether Swiatek can produce another big run at Indian Wells this month remains to be seen.
