Awaiting to officially claim the No.1 WTA ranking, Poland’s Iga Swiatek defeated American Jessica Pegula 6-2 7-5 in the semifinals of the Miami Open to remain undefeated at the WTA 1000 tournaments this year.
Iga Swiatek is just one win away from clinching the Indian Wells-Miami Open title double. Steffi Graf (1994, 1996), Kim Clijsters (2005) and Victoria Azarenka (20016) are the only players in WTA history who managed to achieve the feat. The last player standing between Swiatek and this rare accomplishment is four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who advanced to the Miami Open final earlier on Thursday with a three-set victory over Belinda Bencic.
After taking the first set without facing a break point, the second-seeded Swiatek battled back from an early break down in the second set of Thursday night’s semifinal against 16th-seeded Jessica Pegula. At 5-4 in the second set, Swiatek squandered two match points, but finished the job two games later.
Progressing into her third consecutive WTA 1000 final, Swiatek is yet to lose a set this fortnight in Miami. When it comes to her final opponent Naomi Osaka, the Japanese leads their head-to-head record 1-0, but that match was way before Swiatek made it big on the tennis scene. Swiatek was ranked No.65 at the time, while Osaka was No.2.
Fashion note: Iga Swiatek’s Asics Spring Match Graphic Tank is finally available for purchase. The item is from Asics’ collection launched at the Australian Open.
