Swiatek reaches to Indian Wells semifinals after injured Wozniacki retires

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek advanced to her third straight semifinal at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday, following the retirement of former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki from their quarterfinal match due to a right foot injury. It ended with a 6-4, 1-0, ret result. 

The 2022 Indian Wells winner Swiatek rallied to win the first set 4-1 after falling behind early. Between sets, Wozniacki the 2011 Indian Wells champion called a medical timeout for her foot, and the Dane needed just one more game to end the match.  

Following the game, Swiatek stated, "I'm hoping Caroline will be better and ready for Miami." "It's not the most effective strategy for victory.  

"But I'm happy that I played well enough in first set to win it. For sure it was tight. At the beginning we had many longer rallies, so I felt like I needed to be solid and be ready. At the end I'm happy that I used the chances in the last games." 

It was an abrupt end to a highly anticipated match between two Grand Slam winners. The sole prior meeting between Swiatek and Wozniacki occurred in Toronto in 2019; at that time, Swiatek was ranked No. 65 and Wozniacki was ranked No. 18. Swiatek won 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in that match.  

In the opening games, Wozniacki, who was playing in her first WTA quarterfinal in four years, looked impressive as she aimed to overcome the current World No. 1 for the first time since she beat Simona Halep to win her only Grand Slam championship at the 2018 Australian Open. 

In her maiden service game, the 33-year-old mother of two, who had returned after a three-year maternity hiatus last summer, saved three break points. Then, Wozniacki broke for a 3-1 lead with a powerful angled return, and a swift consolidation followed, giving Wozniacki the 4-1 lead.