Swiatek cruises to 71-minute win at Indian Wells

Tennis

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Iga Swiatek needed just 71 minutes to dispatch Petra Martic 6-1, 6-3 on Friday in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

The last time the tournament was played, in 2019, Swiatek lost in qualifying. Now, she’s the No. 2 seed and the 2020 French Open champion.

Swiatek won nine of the first 10 games against Martic before the Polish star got broken twice and fell behind 0-3 in the second set. Swiatek rallied to win the next six games and close out the match.

“In 2019, I wasn’t playing that confident, but I’m really happy that times have changed now,” Swiatek said. “In the second set, I lost focus for one game and she broke me pretty fast, so I knew I just had to keep going and not stop for a second time.”

No. 4 seed Elina Svitolina beat Tereza Martincova 6-2, 7-5. Ninth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova topped Madison Keys 6-3, 6-1.

No. 11 seed Simona Halep beat Marta Kostyuk 7-6 (2), 6-1.

Victoria Azarenka advanced via walkover when Magda Linette quit trailing 7-5, 3-0. Shelby Rogers routed Kristina Kucova 6-2, 6-2.

Former men’s No. 1 Andy Murray, US Open champion Emma Raducanu and runner-up Leylah Fernandez played night matches.

On the men’s side, Americans Jenson Brooksby and Ernesto Escobedo won their first-round matches. Brooksby beat Cem Ilkel 7-6 (5), 6-4, and Escobedo defeated Holger Rune 6-4, 6-1.

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