The dream of a semi-final with the Brazilians in Indian Wells came to an end this Thursday with the elimination of Luisa Stefani, alongside the Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski, against the Japanese Miyu Kato and the Indonesian Aldila Sutjiadi, by 6 /2 and 7/6 (7/4), in the quarter-finals. The Asians will be the rivals of Bia Haddad and the German Laura Siegemund.

The Brazilian and the Canadian started and were broken in the first game. Unable to threaten the Asians’ serve, they lost serve again in the fifth game and eventually fell in the first set 6-2 in just 27 minutes.

Unrecognizable on the field, they continued without touching anything in the second set and found themselves at a disadvantage of 4 to 0. With 5-1 conceded, they saved two match points. The reaction, finally, came, with them scoring five points in a row and moving to 6-5. The tie took on the definition of a tie-break.

Once again Stefani and Dabrowski start badly, with 4-0 conceded. Kato and Sutjiadi were again 5-1 and allowed a small reaction and 5-4 on the scoreboard. They went to serve with confidence, reached the match point and this time they didn’t waste it, closing at 7-4.

In another quarter-final duel, Czechs Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, top favorites at Indian Welles, confirmed their strength with a 6/3 brace over Australia’s Storm Hunter and Belgium’s Elise Mertens and now challenge Japan’s Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama. in the other semi-final.

IGA SWIATEK KILLS

In the singles tournament, Poland’s Iga Swiatek continues to easily pass her opponents and marches firmly to claim the second championship – she overtook Greece’s Maria Sakkari in the 2022 final. This Thursday, the ranking leader made 6/ 2 and 6 / 3 against the Romanian Sorana Cirstea and will face, in the semifinals, the house Elena Rybakina, who beat the Czech Karolina Muchova in three sets, partial of 7/6 (7/4), 2/6 and 6 /4.

A repeat of the 2022 decision is still possible, as Sakkari is in the other semi-final, in which he will have a tough engagement to second seed Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.