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World No 1 Iga Swiatek has learned her projected path to defending the Indian Wells title. Swiatek, the top-seeded player, has a first-round bye in the desert. In her opener at the tournament, Swiatek will take on the winner of the match Alison van Uytvanck and Claire Liu.
In the third round, Swiatek could have her first big test in the desert as she is projected to play 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu. In the round-of-16, Swiatek could meet Emma Raducanu, Beatriz Haddad Maia or even 2023 Australian Open semifinalist Magda Linette.
In the quarterfinal, Swiatek could meet reigning WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia or other top-20 players such as Liudmila Samsonova and Madison Keys. When it comes to the semifinal stage, expectedly there are several big names that Swiatek could potentially meet - Ons Jabeur, Elena Rybakina, Paula Badosa, Victoria Azarenka or Daria Kasatkina.
In Indian Wells, the projected final is between top-seeded Swiatek and second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka. However, Sabalenka is definitely not the only big name from her part of the draw as there are also Jessica Pegula, Cori Gauff, Belinda Bencic and Maria Sakkari.
🇵🇱 Iga ÅšwiÄ…tek's potential path - WTA 1000 Indian Wells ðŸ†
R1: bye
R2: Liu/Van Uytvanck
R3: Andreescu/Stearns
R4: Haddad Maia/Linette/Raducanu
QF: Garcia/Samsonova/Keys
SF: Jabeur/Kasatkina/Rybakina/Azarenka/Badosa
F: Sabalenka/Pegula/Sakkari/Gauff/Bencić/Krejcikova
📸 Jimmie48 pic.twitter.com/BBnzz0jZ9m — Z kortu - informacje tenisowe | Tennis news (@z_kortu) March 6, 2023
Swiatek hopes to defend her Indian Wells title
Last year, Swiatek defeated Maria Sakkari in the Indian Wells final to lift her first title in the desert.
Now, 21-year-old Swiatek is the top favorite to defend her Indian Wells title and win back-to-back titles in tennis paradise. Lately, Swiatek has played well. In mid-February, Swiatek won Doha with a total of five games lost during the tournament.
After Doha, Swiatek also reached the final in Dubai. In the Dubai final, Swiatek unexpectedly suffered a defeat against Barbora Krejcikova. Even though Swiatek didn't manage to win back-to-back titles in Doha and Dubai, many still have her as the top favorite to win it all in Indian Wells since she still played extremely well during the Middle East swing. It remains to be seen if Swiatek can produce another great run in Indian Wells this month.
