INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Top-ranked Iga Swiatek routed Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-1 on Friday night to reach the BNP Paribas Open final.
Swiatek improved to 19-2 this year, with her match wins leading the WTA Tour.
She'll face No. 9 seed Maria Sakkari in Sunday's final after Sakkari defeated third-seeded Coco Gauff in a rain-delayed semifinal.
Swiatek taken three out of five meetings against Sakkari in her career.
Swiatek won the 2022 tournament as part of a 37-match winning streak. She had advanced to the semis when Caroline Wozniacki retired trailing 6-4, 1-0 in their quarterfinal. Swiatek has lost just 17 games through the semis.
Kostyuk, of Ukraine, hit 17 winners to 14 for Swiatek in the match. But the Polish star was better in nearly every other facet and didn't face a break point. Swiatek connected on 74% of her first serves, won 83% of her first-serve points and 50% of her second-serve points on a cool and windy evening in the Southern California desert.
“It was the cleanest match I played here,” Swiatek said in an on-court interview. “I didn't really have any moment today in the match where I didn't feel confident."
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