Qinwen Zheng ready for "fight" with Iga Swiatek in Indian Wells quarterfinal

It feels like a lifetime has already passed since Qinwen Zheng upset Iga Swiatek in the semifinal of the 2024 Summer Paris Olympics en route to winning a gold medal.

It was Zheng's first win over Swiatek after five tries, and it also kick-started Swiatek's title drought, which is still active after almost nine months.

After a rocky start of the year for both players, Zheng and Swiatek are playing at a high level once again. The two players are scheduled for a rematch in the quarterfinal of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Thursday.

The 8-seed Zheng punched her ticket to the quarterfinal last night with a straight-sets win over Marta Kostyuk. During her post-match interview, Zheng provided insight into her mental approach to the match.

"We will both give our best. She won like really easy, her first three matches here at Indian Wells. So, she's in good shape. Same as I. We're going to fight. And let's see what happens in the next match."

Zheng is not wrong; Swiatek has looked very strong at Indian Wells. Despite the new surface, the court is playing much slower and giving higher bounces than most hard courts (as is usually the case at Indian Wells).

The two-seed Swiatek dominated Karolina Muchova yesterday: 6-1, 6-1. Swiatek has only dropped six games through three matches at Indian Wells. The Polish star appears poised to repeat as champion in the desert.

However, Zheng just played her best match of the season. Her coach is back, and the ongoing elbow injury appears to be less of an issue for the Chinese star.

Swiatek might have a slight advantage entering the showdown, but this is guaranteed to be a hard-fought match. Additionally, the weather at Indian Wells has already proven to be a huge variable.

Currently, Swiatek is the WTA World No. 2 with a record of 17-4. Zheng is the No. 9 with a record of 4-3. The two competitors face off on Thursday, March 13.

Tennis fans can follow Sports Illustrated's Serve on SI for all the most important news from the sport.

More Tennis News

Frances Tiafoe loses to World No. 349 (and his ex-coach).

Novak Djokovic explains "immense" difference between courts at Indian Wells.

Carlos Alcaraz breaks down "really slow" Indian Wells courts.

Carlos Alcaraz is rocking a $155 Nike kit at Indian Wells.

Naomi Osaka apologizes for "worst match in my life" at Indian Wells.