Talk about high praise.

Prior to her fourth-round match against Karolina Muchova at the BNP Paribas Open, Iga Swiatek spoke incredibly highly of her Czech opponent. She called her the Roger Federer of the women’s game, and touted the 29-year-old’s smarts and smooth strokes.

On Wednesday, after Swiatek defeated Muchova 6-2, 6-0 to advance to the quarterfinals in Indian Wells, they shared a warm embrace and a couple of laughs at net.

Then, in Swiatek’s on-court interview, she doubled down on her earlier appreciation of Muchova, saying there’s no one on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz that she enjoys watching more.

“She’s my favorite WTA player to watch,” said Swiatek, who’s into her 27th WTA 1000 quarterfinal. “It’s really nice, also, to play against her. Basically, she might be, like, the only player I watch.”

Swiatek went on to call Muchova “a great player and a great person,” and fondly recalled the 2019 Prague Open, when they played each other for the first time. Swiatek won three qualifying matches in that tournament to make the main draw, where she lost to Muchova 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the first round. 

That would be her last loss to Muchova. Swiatek has won their past five meetings, the last two of which have been dominant victories at Indian Wells. (Last year, Swiatek beat Muchova 6-1, 6-1 in the same round at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.)

Swiatek’s pick of Muchova as her favorite player to watch isn’t shocking to anyone who’s watched the World No. 13 play. She has all kinds of variety, can hit any shot from seemingly anywhere on court, and is one of the most athletic players on tour — which makes it all the more surprising that, coming into 2026, she had won only one title. 

Swiatek drops just two games to Muchova to reach Indian Wells quarters

That all changed last month, though, when Muchova had the week of her career at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, winning six matches in seven days for her first career WTA 1000 title.

Swiatek, a two-time Indian Wells champion, will play Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals on Thursday.