Andy Murray: Iga Swiatek is my favorite player to watch on the women's side

Andy Murray has named Iga Swiatek as his favorite women's tennis player to watch.

WTA World No. 1 Swiatek endured a difficult start to her 2024 campaign. At the Australian Open, she found herself on the brink of an early exit at the hands of Danielle Collins in the second round. However, she survived after keeping her composure. In the third round, however, Swiatek was stunned by teenager Linda Noskova.

The four-time Grand Slam winner rediscovered her best form at the Qatar Open, where she won the title for the third successive year after defeating Elena Rybakina in the final. Swiatek's fine form continued at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she reached the semifinals before losing to Anna Kalinskaya.

As the World No. 1 inches closer to her first match at the Indian Wells Masters in the Round of 64, Andy Murray named her as his favorite WTA player to watch.

"On the women's side, I love watching Iga. I think she's brilliant to watch. She's my favorite player to watch on the female side." Murray said in an interview with Tennis Channel (3:31).

Swiatek starts her Indian Wells Masters campaign on 8 March. She is the top seed in the women's draw and will face the winner of the first-round match between Erika Andreeva and Collins.

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Andy Murray got off to a winning start at Indian Wells

Andy Murray at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters

Andy Murray started his 2024 Indian Wells Masters campaign with a dominant 6-3, 6-2 win against David Goffin. The three-time Grand Slam winner served big throughout the match, winning 85% of his first-serve points, and did not face a single break point.

In his post-match interview, the former World No. 1 said that it was his best Indian Wells Masters performance in terms of serving.

"That's the best I've served here. I've always struggled serving certainly the last 10 years or so when I've been here for whatever reason. Today felt much better." Murray said (via ATPTour.com).

The 2009 Indian Wells runner-up, Murray, is set to face fifth seed Andrey Rublev next in the Round of 64. Murray and Rublev have faced each other twice before. The pair's first clash came in the second round of the 2017 Australian Open. On that occasion, the Brit dominated the Russian to win 6-3, 6-0, 6-2.

Murray and Rublev clashed again in the Round of 16 at the 2021 Rotterdam Open. This time around, the Russian exacted revenge as he defeated Murray 7-5, 6-2. and went on to win the trophy.