MADRID: Iga Swiatek kept her Madrid Open title defence alive, as she avenged her Australian Open defeat to Madison Keys with a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against the American in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Searching for her first title of the season, the second-seeded Swiatek recovered from a poor opening set to improve her clean record on clay against Keys to 4-0 and reach a third consecutive Madrid semifinal.
Keys knocked out the Pole on her way to a maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne three months ago and seemed to have cracked the Swiatek code when she handed her a bagel in the first set on Wednesday. But Swiatek, who was contesting a 17th consecutive quarterfinal on clay, cut down on her errors and struck back to book a last-four clash with Coco Gauff or Mirra Andreeva.
“It was one of the weirdest matches I played,” said Swiatek on court. “Madi was playing perfectly at the beginning. I just tried to play a bit shorter, put the ball in. I just stayed in there.”
Swiatek is famous for dishing out 6-0 sets and it was unusual for the five-time Grand Slam champion to be on the receiving end of one.
“It didn’t feel good. At least it’s fast, you know, but that’s the only positive thing,” she said.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic’s conqueror Matteo Arnaldi earned multiple top-20 wins in one event for the first time by knocking out 16th-seeded Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-5 to move into the Madrid quarterfinals. The Italian world number 44 will take on Jack Draper or Tommy Paul for a place in the final four. — AFP
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