Iga Swiatek became the first woman to reach the Indian Wells quarter-finals for four consecutive years since Karolina Pliskova, who achieved the feat between 2016 and 2019.
Swiatek produced a dominant performance to record a 6-1 6-1 win over Karolina Muchova to seal her place in the competition’s last eight in style.
The defending champion has dropped just six games in this year’s edition, as she aims to become the first woman to win the tournament three times, having also sealed the title in 2022.
The World Number two was delighted to earn a place in the quarter-finals of the 2025 Indian Wells, while expressing her dissatisfaction over the match balls.
She said: “Sometimes matches can be pretty weird. It’s enough for one player to not feel perfect and the other feels great. Then suddenly the difference is much bigger than it usually is.
“It’s tennis. Things like that can happen. For sure I used my opportunities and I used my chances. It’s not easy, but I can imagine that it looks like it.
“I think in tennis it’s important to just let it go and focus on the future, and I have been doing it pretty well. I’m not expecting to win every tournament. After Dubai, we had some more time to practice.
“I have also accepted that sometimes different circumstances can make it tougher for my game to perform at its best. The balls were pretty terrible in Doha and Dubai; they felt like potatoes. So I guess I just kind of refocused and practiced here to feel better.”
Similarly, No. 23 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine earned a 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 upset win over No. 4 seed American Jessica Pegula.
In the Men’s category, Denmark’s Holger Rune stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 6-4 6-4 victory in one hour 33 minutes to end his winning run.
Swiatek is set to face Marta Kostyuk in the quarterfinals of the 2025 BNP Paribas Open.
