Svitolina upsets Swiatek to reach Indian Wells semis, Sabalenka advances

March 12 : Elina Svitolina secured a stunning 6-2 4-6 6-4 win over Iga Swiatek to reach the Indian Wells semi-finals on Thursday, while world number one Aryna Sabalenka also advanced earlier in the day.

World number two Swiatek struggled early against Svitolina, with the Ukrainian capitalising on five double faults to secure three breaks and take the opening set in 38 minutes.

Swiatek found her rhythm in the second to force a decider, but Svitolina regained the upper hand by securing the only break in a closely fought third set before confidently serving out the match.

"I'm extremely happy, it was a tough match," said Svitolina, who is back in the semis for the first time in seven years. "Iga always brings a bit extra out of me with that fighting spirit. I had to really push myself to close that match."

Top seed Sabalenka beat Victoria Mboko 7-6(0) 6-4 after being pushed hard by the Canadian 19-year-old.

The Belarusian world number one's mental strength proved decisive in the first set, winning the tiebreak to love — a career first.

The second set followed a similar script with Mboko clawing her way back to 5-4 and threatening another tiebreak but four-times Grand Slam champion Sabalenka closed it out to reach the semi-finals.

"She is definitely a future Grand Slam champion," Sabalenka said. "It's incredible to see how brave these young girls are these days."

Sabalenka, 27, will next play Linda Noskova, who ended Australian qualifier Talia Gibson's fairytale run 6-2 4-6 6-2, the Czech reaching her second WTA 1000 semi-final and her first at Indian Wells.

In the men's draw, fourth seed Alexander Zverev beat Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-2 6-3 and will next face world number two Jannik Sinner after the Italian made light work of