World No. 1 Iga Swiatek defeated Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-1 on Friday to reach the ATP-WTA Indian Wells Masters final. Four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who won the 2022 Indian Wells title, needed just 69 minutes to overtake Ukraine’s No. 32 Kostyuk and will face the United States in Sunday’s final. Open champion Coco Gauff or Greece’s Maria Sakkari. Sakkari, ranked ninth, lost to Swiatek in the 2022 Indian Wells final, beating third-ranked Gauff 6-4 after the first set was temporarily suspended due to heavy rain.

Swiatek and Kostyuk avoided desert showers, but competed in overcast, cold conditions, which did little to slow down a red-hot Swiatek.

“I think it was the cleanest match I’ve ever played here,” said Swiatek, who hit 14 winners, made only six unforced errors and faced no break points. “There was no moment in today’s game where I wasn’t confident.

“I have all the positive vibes.”

Although she reached the final without dropping a set, Swiatek insisted after her previous victory that she still had some things to work out in her game.

It looked like she did exactly that, as she let Kostyuk escape early, applying pressure with her precision and power.

The Ukrainian player, participating in the 1000-level semi-finals for the first time, maintained the start of the match, but Swiatek won five games in a row and took the first set within half an hour.

Kostyuk finished the game with 17 winners and 23 unforced errors, but he couldn’t find a way to turn the game around.

She was trailing 3-0 in the second set when she apparently jammed her left foot at one point and required treatment.

Swiatek, unaffected by the medical timeout, maintained a 4-0 lead and capped the victory with a return winner from Kostyuk’s fifth break of serve.

Swiatek, 22, is making a strong comeback after a disappointing third-round exit at the Australian Open.

She won the title in Doha and reached the semifinals in Dubai, and her 19 match wins are the most among WTA players this year.

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