INDIAN WELLS, California – It takes more than unexpectedly breezy weather to blow world No. 1 Iga Swiatek off course.

The 21-year-old from Warsaw barely put a foot wrong as she got her bid for a rare Indian Wells title repeat off to a sizzling start on Saturday with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over 56th-ranked American Claire Liu.

“For sure I’m happy with the performance,” she said.

“It was a really solid match and I’m happy with how I adjusted to the wind, because when we were practising, it wasn’t that windy.

“Tactically and tennis-wise, everything was on point.”

Swiatek surrendered just seven points in an opening set that lasted 28 minutes.

“When you have a score like that, sometimes the energy level can go down a little bit,” she admitted.

“It did a little bit in the second set at the end. So, yeah, I was aware what I have to do. I just came back with a more intense game.

“I had so many matches that were going my way in last couple of weeks that I know what to do.”

Indeed, even with the Pole’s slight dip, the second set was far from a close run thing.

But Liu saved a match point as she finally held serve in the penultimate game, the crowd roaring when she poked a forehand shot past Swiatek on game point.

It drew a relieved smile from the American, but Swiatek polished off the win in the next game after 65 minutes.

The victory took her a step closer to becoming just the second woman, after Martina Navratilova in 1990 and 1991, to win back-to-back Indian Wells titles. Next up for the Pole is Canadian Bianca Andreescu, winner here in 2019.

Swiatek’s triumph in the California desert in 2022 was part of a run that saw her win in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami.

In 2023, after a shock exit in the round of 16 at the Australian Open, she retained her title at Doha and reached the final at Dubai.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Emma Raducanu has learnt that good fortune can be fleeting and bad luck can cruelly compound itself but said she is on the upswing following her second-round victory at Indian Wells on Saturday.

The 20-year-old has been beset by an avalanche of injuries and illnesses of late, but was all smiles after knocking out Polish 20th seed Magda Linette 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.

She suffered an ankle injury in the lead up to January’s Australian Open, tonsillitis that forced her to withdraw ahead of the recent Austin Open and the recent flaring up of a wrist injury that cut short her 2022 season.

“Sometimes you wonder, like, how is this possible?” the 2021 US Open winner told reporters.

“But then very quickly I think you create your own luck. It works both ways. I won the US Open as well. I have to take the bad luck sometimes because good fortune has also come upon me.

“I wouldn’t trade that title for the world. I’m just prepared to take whatever it takes, knowing that I have that in the bank,” she said with a smile, with Beatriz Haddad Maia lined up in the next round.

This marks the first time since September in Seoul that Raducanu has put together back-to-back match wins – one of which was a quarter-final triumph over Linette. AFP, REUTERS