Elena Rybakina stuns globe No.1 Iga Swiatek to attain Indian Wells final

(CNN) Elena Rybakina defeated globe No. 1 Iga Świątek in straight sets on Friday to attain the Indian Wells final and continue her electric run of kind this season.

Świątek had no answer to the highly effective groundstrokes unleashed by the Wimbledon champion as the Pole was overwhelmed six-two six-two in an hour and 16 minutes.

With this victory, Rybakina became the very first player to win various matches against a reigning globe No.1 considering that 2019, just after she defeated the Świątek in the fourth round of the Australian Open earlier this year.

“With Iga, she’s challenging, genuinely challenging opponent, but when I play this excellent and anything goes in — for the reason that these days some moments I played, I would say, on my highest level — [these are] moments exactly where you can really feel, okay, I can beat everyone if I usually play like this,” mentioned Rybakina just after her win.

“But it really is the objective, you by no means really feel remarkable and best every single match. I feel these days it was just genuinely excellent from me.”

The two players met in the fourth round of the Australian Open earlier this year.

The globe No. ten was dominant from the begin, breaking Świątek at the very first chance and winning the very first set in just 36 minutes.

Rybakina then raced to a five- lead in the second just before Świątek held and broke back to stem the tide somewhat, but the Kazakh held on for victory, becoming the very first player from her nation to attain a singles final in tournament history. Rybakina was born in Russia but has represented Kazakhstan considering that 2018

“If you dropped onto the planet tonight and heard #1 is playing, then it really is Rybakina,” former expert tennis player Pam Shriver tweeted.

Świątek revealed afterwards that she was managing a rib injury and “not feeling one hundred% physically,” despite the fact that she nonetheless plans to play at the Miami Open subsequent week.

“Honestly, I have not played with a lot of injuries,” she added. “It is a new circumstance for me, for confident. Final time I played with an injury, like the only tournament I can try to remember is like Roland Garros 2019. So I was fairly young.

“Now it really is a completely various level. So I really feel like going on that matches you have to be one hundred% match.”

Rybakina will now face Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka for the Indian Wells title in a repeat of this year’s Australian Open final.