Iga Swiatek will lose ground to Aryna Sabalenka when the rankings are updated on Monday (Image: GETTY)
is set to lose crucial ground to in the rankings after being dumped out of Indian Wells by Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva. The reigning champion was beaten in three sets despite claiming first blood, eventually slipping to a 6-7 6-1 6-3 defeat. It came just weeks after Swiatek was defeated by Andreeva at the Dubai Tennis Championships last month.
She was aiming to become the first woman to win at Indian Wells on three occasions, but her hopes went up in flames with Andreeva pulling through a tense final set. The latter will face Sabalenka in the final on Sunday and will rise to sixth in the WTA rankings if she lifts the trophy. Swiatek, meanwhile, will be on the wrong end of a significant swing when it comes to the battle for top spot.
Swiatek’s hopes of Indian Wells glory were abruptly ended by Mirra Andreeva (Image: GETTY)
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She will drop 610 points when the rankings are updated on Monday, giving Sabalenka even more breathing room at the summit. The Belarusian already held a notable advantage, with 9,076 ranking points before the start of Indian Wells compared to 7,985 for Swiatek. She has earned 530 points just by reaching the final, meaning Swiatek is guaranteed to be over 2,000 points adrift.
If Sabalenka beats Andreeva in the final on Sunday, she will reach a staggering total of 9,956 ranking points on Monday. It would leave Swiatek needing to overturn a 2,581-point gap over the coming months, which is likely to be a hugely difficult task.
Swiatek was visibly frustrated during her defeat to Andreeva and struggled to control her temper as the match progressed. At one point, she was thrown a ball by a ball kid and furiously smashed it into the ground, prompting jeers from the fans in attendance.
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In the final set, Swiatek raced over to the umpire and complained that she was being distracted by the ball kids during her opponent’s serve. Andreeva, meanwhile, capitalised on her rival’s growing fury by extending her lead and wrapping up the match.
Speaking afterwards, Andreeva said: “I just went for all my shots. My serve was great, and, you know, just felt super comfortable and super confident during the tiebreak. I kind of played on a roll, but then the second set, it was a bit weird.
“I really tried to do something but I just felt like she literally overplayed me, because she was playing pretty deep with good height over the net. It was really hard to do something with these shots. I just tried to hang in there and do something.
“I went on a toilet break. I started to think: ‘What can I change?’. I just decided to kind of still play the same but maybe go for my shots more, trying to play a little bit more aggressive, and in the end, you know, I got the win, so I feel great.”