By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Sunday, March 23, 2025

Driving toward her first title of the season, Iga Swiatek was an accelerant agent in Miami.

Elevating her game in the tiebreaker, Swiatek dispatched Elise Mertens 7-6(2), 6-1 powering into her 29th career WTA 1000 round of 16 at the Miami Open.

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After a slight stumble at the end of the opening set, Swiatek went into overdrive becoming the first woman to reach the round of 16 at 25 straight WTA 1000 tournaments.

Setting records 😎@iga_swiatek is the first player to reach the Round of 16 for 25 consecutive appearances in WTA 1000 events!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/OArNs4JhSV

— wta (@WTA) March 23, 2025

The 2022 Miami Open champion continues her quest for her first title since she captured her fifth Grand Slam crown at Roland Garros last June.



Swiatek improved to 20-5 on the season—18 of her 20 victories have come in straight sets.

This victory sends Swiatek into a round of 16 clash vs. Elina Svitolina.

Earlier, Svitolina stopped former French Open finalist Karolina Muchova 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

The 22nd-seeded Svitolina converted five of 12 break points in a two hour, three-minute triumph.

The 30-year-old Ukrainian is playing for her third quarterfinal of the season. Svitolina has lost to the eventual-champion in her two quarterfinal appearances this season, bowing to Madison Keys in the AO quarterfinals and falling to 17-year-old sensation Mirra Andreeva in the Indian Wells quarters.

World No. 2 Swiatek has won two of three meetings vs. Svitolina, including a 6-1, 6-4 sweep in the Dubai round of 16 last year. Svitolina famously toppled Swiatek at the 2023 Wimbledon and knows winning this rematch will take all she’s got.

“Well, we played a couple of times, we know each other's games,” Svitolina told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj afterward. “For me, I feel I have nothing to lose—I have only things to gain.

“I will just try to be there with my game plan, talk to my coach and be there. Of course she’s a big champion…It will take a lot for me to beat her, but I will be ready for that.”



Today, Swiatek failed to serve out the opening set at 5-4, but turned it up considerably in the tiebreaker.

The first set was a series of momentum shifts as Swiatek took a 2-0 lead before Mertens level after four games.

The second-seeded Pole powered through three games for a 5-2 lead.

Digging in, the Belgian slid successive aces holding for 3-5. In the longest game of the set, Mertens exploited a pair of double faults and a missed backhand converting her fourth break point. Mertens prevailed in an eight-and-a-half minute game for 4-5.

The 27th-seeded Mertens knocked a backhand winner down the line forcing the first-set tiebreaker after an hour of physical play.

Elevating in the tiebreaker, Swiatek swatted a pair of aces, a smash and a backhand pass charging out to a 5-1 tiebreaker lead. Swiatek drew a pair of errors to snatch a one-set lead after 67 minutes of play.



The 2022 Miami Open champion broke immediately to start the second set.

Unrelenting baseline ball control saw Swiatek work the ball side to side, capping an eight-minute game with her second straight break for a 7-6, 3-0 lead.

Mertens held for 1-4 before Swiatek cruised through the final two games to reach the fourth round again.