Four women are left standing at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open, as the tournament is down to two semifinal pairs — Iga Swiatek vs. Marta Kostyuk and Coco Gauff vs. Maria Sakkari.
Top-half semifinal: Iga Swiatek versus Marta Kostyuk
To advance to the final four, world number one Iga Swiatek defeated Caroline Wozniacki on retirement after earning a 6-4 1-0 lead. Wozniacki took a medical timeout between sets for treatment on the toe that bothered her in the previous match already. After one game, the Dane decided to retire. Following the match, the top-seeded Swiatek was concerned for her opponent and extended her well wishes.
In the semifinal Friday, Swiatek will face 32nd-ranked Marta Kostyuk, who advanced to the next round with a 6-0 7-5 victory over Anastasia Potapova. The two played each other once before, when Swiatek beat Kostyuk 6-3 6-4 in the round of 16 at the 2021 French Open.
Asked her thoughts about the next match, Swiatek said, “I don’t have many honestly, because I’m still kind of thinking about the match that I played, but if she’s in the semifinal, she deserves to be there. There are no easy matches at this stage of the tournament, so I’ll be ready.”
Kostyuk was relieved when she came to press. Early in the match, the Ukrainian dominated Potapova, taking a…
