Iga Swiatek is coming off hot off her Indian Wells victory. She thrashed Greek tennis player Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-0 in the final, and took home her second title in the Californian desert. Swiatek missed out on winning the Dubai Tennis Championships, losing to Anna Kalinskaya 4-6, 4-6 in the semi-final. She had, though, won the Qatar Open by beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (10-8), 6-2 in the final. Swiatek is in red hot form and she will likely continue this in the Miami Open 2024.
Swiatek completed the Sunshine Doubles in 2022 and is a likely contender to complete it this time too. She will start her campaign in the second round as the topmost-seeded player in the draw. Seeded players get a ‘Bye’ in the first round of the tournament. Her first match will possibly be against Camila Giorgi of Italy, and move on to play Linda Noskova in the third round.
Swiatek badly defeated Noskova in the Round of 32 of the Indian Wells, and this could very likely be a repetition of that. However, Noskova was the one to knock Swiatek out of the Australian Open this year in the third round with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 score. That could also happen again. If Swiatek plays Noskova, this would be a rare instance of two women’s singles player taking on each other for the third time in the early part of a calendar year.
Should Swiatek reach the fourth roud, Karolina Piliskova could be the player waiting for her. Pliskova gave Swiatek a walkover in the Qatar Open semi-final. After that, the quarter-finals start, where Swiatek might face Jessica Pegula or Emma Navarro, both from the States.
Pegula is more experienced to reach there, but Navarro has been in terrific form of late. Several potential players could face Swiatek in the semi-final. Players like Daria Kasatkina, Sorana Cirstea, Ons Jabeur, Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina. But the biggest contender to face Swiatek there remains Coco Gauff.
Swiatek and Coco Gauff last played in the WTA Finals group stage, where Swiatek cleanly defeated her 6-0, 7-5. The final, if Iga Swiatek reaches it, will most likely be against Katie Boulter, Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, or Maria Sakkari. Among them, Sabalenka takes the edge due to her current performance in results of late.
Iga Swiatek lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA Finals semi-final by 3-6, 2-6, and would like to take her revenge this time. However, if Sakkari reaches the final, Swiatek will count on her recent win over her at the IW finals and try to repeat it.
So seeing the challenges Iga Swiatek has ahead of her, it is unlikely that she will win the title and complete the much-coveted Sunshine Double of winning Indian Wells and Miami in the same year.
Iga Swiatek Miami Open 2024 draw and potential road to the final
First Round – Bye
Second Round – Camila Giorgi
Third Round – Linda Noskova
Fourth Round – Karoline Piliskova
Quarter-Final – Emma Navarro
Semi-Final – Coco Gauff
Final – Aryna Sabalenka
