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Match details
Fixture: (2) Iga Swiatek vs (24) Jelena Ostapenko
Date: 12 October 2021
Tournament: BNP Paribas Open
Round: Fourth round (Round of 16)
Venue: Indian Wells, USA
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Hardcourt
Prize money: $8,761,725
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel & ESPN | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Iga Swiatek vs Jelena Ostapenko preview
Second seed Iga Swiatek has set up an exciting fourth-round clash against 24th seed Jelena Ostapenko. The two former Roland Garros champions will be vying for a place in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Swiatek was at her ruthless best in the previous round, thrashing Veronika Kudermetova 6-1, 6-0. The Pole won a whopping 85% of her service points and didn't face a single break point throughout the match.
While all of Swiatek's biggest achievements have been on clay - winning 2020 Roland Garros, making the final in doubles there this year and winning the WTA 1000 in Rome a few months ago - her results on hardcourt this year have been quite consistent too. The 20-year-old won the WTA 500 in Adelaide at the start of the year, and also reached the fourth round of both the Australian and the US Open.
Given Swiatek's performance in the Californian desert so far, she's being considered by many as one of the favorites to win the title.
Jelena Ostapenko, meanwhile, needed three tough sets to battle past Yulia Putintseva on Sunday, ultimately winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
While Ostapenko has underperformed at this year's Grand Slams, her results at other tournaments have been pretty decent. The Latvian won her first WTA 500 title at the Eastbourne Open, and also made it to the final at Luxembourg.
Ostapenko has performed well in doubles this year too, and is currently into the Indian Wells quarterfinals with partner Lyudmyla Kichenok.
Iga Swiatek vs Jelena Ostapenko head-to-head
Jelena Ostapenko leads Iga Swiatek 1-0 in the head-to-head. She defeated the Pole 6-0, 6-2 in their only previous encounter, which came at the 2019 Birmingham Open.
Iga Swiatek vs Jelena Ostapenko prediction
While both Iga Swiatek and Jelena Ostapenko have an aggressive playing style, there are distinct differences in how they approach each match.
The Latvian is the flatter hitter of the two, moving her opponents around with her powerful groundstrokes and then finishing off with clean winners. But her serve, despite some recent improvements, remains a big liability.
Swiatek's game, on the other hand, incorporates a lot of spin as well as a bit of variety. Compared to Ostapenko, her serve is a lot more reliable too.
While the Latvian has enough power to hit through the slow courts at Indian Wells, the conditions overall favor Swiatek's game more. And given her tendency to accumulate a high amount of unforced errors, Ostapenko might find it difficult to counter Swiatek's game on Tuesday.
Prediction: Iga Swiatek to win in straight sets.
