Iga Swiatek is known to be one of the most well-rounded players on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, with a wide range of interests off the court. (Earlier this week, for example, she professed her love for classic 90s’ flicks The English Patient and Legends of the Fall.)
Baking is not one of those interests.
Actually, scratch that — it was of interest, until the six-time Grand Slam champion discovered it’s one of the few things that doesn’t come naturally to her.
“I tried baking, because my sister bakes,” Swiatek told reporters after her dominant 6-2, 6-0 win over Karolina Muchova in Indian Wells on Wednesday. “She’s pretty good at that, and basically all members of my family could cook, and I’m terrible. So I tried baking, and it was a disaster.
“They just threw it out to the garbage without even doubting it, and I understand that. I totally get it. It wasn’t edible.”
Unlike her baking escapades, Swiatek’s run to a third BNP Paribas Open title has been anything but a disaster.
Swiatek drops just two games to Muchova to reach Indian Wells quarters
The World No. 2 has yet to drop a set in her first three matches, and one tiebreaker against Kayla Day aside, she’s yet to really be challenged.
In what was perhaps her best match of the young season, Swiatek dispatched Muchova in just 77 minutes, breaking the World No. 13 five times and never facing a break point herself.
“I think it was a great match,” Swiatek said. “I felt really solid and I could really — from the beginning until the end — play my kind of game and just play how I wanted to. I think the beginning was kind of tight. We played kind of on the same level, but then I managed to step up and break.”
She’s now into her 27th career WTA 1000 quarterfinal, where she’ll meet ninth seed Elina Svitolina on Thursday. Swiatek leads their head-to-head 4-1, including wins in Miami and at Roland Garros last year.
Swiatek won the Indian Wells title in 2022, and then again in 2024.
