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E-mail Xinhua, March 14, 2025
China's Zheng Qinwen bowed out of Indian Wells with a 6-3, 6-3 quarterfinal loss to second-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland on Thursday.
World No. 9 Zheng struggled with unforced errors at key moments and converted just two of five break points as Swiatek prevailed in an hour and 35 minutes in a match that was interrupted by bad weather.
The result marked a reversal of the pair's semifinal meeting at the Paris Olympics last July, when Zheng beat the four-time French Open champion 6-2, 7-5 on her way to winning the gold medal.
Swiatek, who is vying for her third Indian Wells title, converted all five of her break point chances and won 74 percent of points on her first serve.
The 23-year-old raced to a 5-1 lead in the opening set but Zheng rallied by breaking back and then holding serve.
Swiatek clinched the set in her next service game and then took a 4-0 lead in the second frame before surviving another revival by her 22-year-old opponent to secure a place in the last four of the WTA 1000 event.
"At the end it got really windy which made it super tricky especially when the conditions change during the match you need to adjust quickly and it's not that easy," Swiatek said in her on-court interview.
"I am happy that I was pushing until the end. It was a weird match with all the breaks and everything but I wanted to be composed and really focused and I'm glad that I did that."
Five-time grand slam winner Swiatek will face either Ukraine's Elina Svitolina or Mirra Andreeva of Russia in the semifinals.
