In first match since clinching rise to No. 1, Iga Swiatek wins in 65 minutes in Miami

Iga Swiatek, who will make a historic rise to No. 1 on the WTA rankings on April 4th, kept her winning streak going in Miami on Sunday night, defeating American Madison Brengle in straight sets in the third round of the WTA 1000 event, 6-0, 6-3.

She’s now won her last 13 matches in a row, as well as her last 12 sets in a row.

The first half hour of the match was all Swiatek, as she powered her way to a 6-0, 1-0 lead. The tide started turning from there, though, as Brengle got on the board with a hold for 1-all, held again for 2-all and then suddenly broke for a 3-2 second-set lead. But Swiatek broke right back at love for 3-all, held at love for 4-3 and eventually closed out the straight-sets victory after 65 minutes on court.

“It’s always hard to play against Madison because she’s changing the rhythm all the time,” Swiatek said afterwards. “It’s pretty tricky, because sometimes you may get really low balls, and sometimes the balls you could attack, but it’s more important to choose the right one, because you have to balance the risk and being solid.

“For sure I had a little bit more doubt in the second set, but I’m pretty happy that I came back to the game that I was playing at the beginning.”

Swiatek's 13-match winning streak includes capturing back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in Doha (5-0) and Indian Wells (6-0), as well as her two wins so far in Miami.

Her 12-set winning streak dates back to her fourth-round match against Angelique Kerber in Indian Wells—she dropped the first set of that one against the German but eventually won the match, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, and hasn't lost another set since.

Awaiting Swiatek in the fourth round will be American teenager Coco Gauff, who outdid China’s Zhang Shuai in her third-round match earlier in the day, 7-6 (1), 7-5.

Swiatek and Gauff will be playing each other for just the second time, with the Pole winning a tight two-setter on clay in the semifinals of Rome last year, 7-6 (3), 6-3.

“Hopefully this time it’s a different result for me,” Gauff said.

“Honestly, I have no pressure going in. She’s the No. 1 player in the world. She’s on a hot streak right now. Or win streak? Win streak, hot streak, is that a thing?

“Hopefully I’m just going to go out there and play free.”

A win over Swiatek, who’s still ranked No. 2 until after the tournament, would be the second-biggest win of Gauff’s career, though it would be the biggest completed win of her career. She defeated a No. 1-ranked Ashleigh Barty by retirement in Rome last year after the Australian had to stop midway through the match with an arm injury.