Swiatek still has a chance to complete the "Sunshine Double" by winning Indian Wells and Miami in the same season.
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Iga Swiatek, the No. 2 seed from Poland, advanced to the Miami Open quarterfinals for the first time in her career on Monday, defeating No. 14 seed Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-1 on Stadium Court. Swiatek, 20, who will become World No. 1 next Monday, took 1 hour and 16 minutes to beat Gauff, 18, in a match between two of the Top 20’s three youngest players. Swiatek has now won 14 matches in a row, which is a career high.
Swiatek has yet to lose in a WTA 1000 event this season. Her current winning streak began with a title run at the first WTA 1000 event of the year in Doha, and ended just over a week ago with her second straight WTA 1000 title at Indian Wells. Swiatek still has a chance to complete the “Sunshine Double” by winning Indian Wells and Miami in the same season. Stefanie Graf (1994 and 1996), Kim Clijsters (2005), and Victoria Azarenka are the other women who have accomplished this feat (2016).
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Graf, Clijsters, and Azarenka all held the World No. 1 ranking at one point or another, and Swiatek will do so next week. On Monday, she will clinch the Hologic WTA Tour singles title and become the 28th woman to hold the No. 1 ranking in the world.
Swiatek won their only previous meeting in straight sets last year in Rome, en route to another WTA 1000 title. By converting four of her ten break points on the day, the Polish player improved to 2-0 against the American teen. The Pole, who leads the tour in return games and return points, won nearly 60% of the points off of Gauff’s second serve, en route to a tour-leading 23rd match victory of the year.
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Swiatek was unable to convert any of her first six break points, but she took command when she broke for a 4-3 lead with a big backhand return. Gauff’s powerful hitting gave him two chances to break back in the next game, but Swiatek held on to the game and, eventually, the set. Gauff would hold only two break points the rest of the way as Swiatek dominated the second set, winning 14 points in a row at one point.
