The women’s singles semifinals will be played on Friday, as will the men’s doubles championship match.
World No.1 and 2022 champion Iga Swiatek has been steamrolling the competition this fortnight. On Friday, she faces 21-year-old Marta Kostyuk, who is playing the best tennis of her young career. The other WTA singles semifinal sees reigning US Open champ Coco Gauff take on Maria Sakkari, who is into her third consecutive semifinal in Indian Wells.
Plus, in the men’s doubles final at 1:30pm local time, it’s Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos (5) vs. Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic. This is a rematch from the final in Auckland at the beginning of the year, when Koolhof and Mektic prevailed in a deciding-set tiebreak.
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Marta Kostyuk (31) – Not Before 4:00pm on Stadium 1
Swiatek is 18-2 on the year, and with a victory on Friday will lead the WTA with 19 match wins in 2024. She is now 11-3 lifetime at this event, after Caroline Wozniacki retired midway through their quarterfinal on Thursday. Iga is vying for her ninth WTA 1000 final, though she’s lost four of her last seven semifinals at this level.
Like Swiatek, Kostyuk is yet to drop a set this fortnight, though she did receive a walkover in the third round from Wimbledon champ Marketa Vondrousova. Marta is 15-5 this season, having achieved her first Major quarterfinal in Melbourne. She also reached the final of San Diego two weeks ago, where she upset Jessica Pegula in the semis. This is Kostyuk’s best result at this level, and she would debut inside the top 20 with a win on Friday.
Their only previous matchup occurred three years ago at Roland Garros, where Swiatek was victorious 6-3, 6-4. But Kostyuk is a much-improved player this year, as the 2017 Australian Open girls’ champion is now translating her success at the junior level to the pro tour. Marta will look to attack Iga with her formidable backhand, and while she has the ability to pull off the upset, Iga should still be favored in this semifinal. Swiatek is currently playing with supreme confidence, and she’s the WTA’s toughest out when she’s at her best.
Coco Gauff (3) vs. Maria Sakkari (9) – Not Before 6:00pm on Stadium 1
While Sakkari has much experience in Indian Wells semifinals, this is Gauff’s debut in this round. And the newly-turned 20-year-old American has had to battle to reach this stage. While Coco has only dropped one set, she’s again struggling with her second serve. In Thursday’s quarterfinals, she struck a whopping 17 double faults across just two sets. And a round earlier, she hit twice as many double faults as aces. But she survived against Yue Yuan on Thursday by winning the critical points, saving seven of 10 break points, and winning five of seven break points of her own.
Sakkari played rather terribly at big events last season, going just 2-4 at Majors. But in her first tournament with David Witt as her coach, she appears refreshed. And Indian Wells is easily her best WTA 1000 event, where she is now 16-5 lifetime. In the last round, Maria came back from a set down to defeat one of the WTA’s best performers of 2024, Emma Navarro. Sakkari is looking to reach her second championship in the desert, and perhaps set up a rematch of the 2022 final against Swiatek.
This will be their eighth meeting within the last four years, and Maria holds the slight edge 4-3. Though in their 2024 encounters, both on hard courts, Coco prevailed in straight sets. But based on Gauff’s service issues, I favor Sakkari to return to championship Sunday in tennis paradise. Plus, as Jason Goodall pointed out on Tennis Channel, the last time David Witt started coaching a new player (Pegula), that player went on to win the first tournament of their partnership.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
