Swiatek recovers against Keysto reach Madrid Open semis

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 quarter-finals on Wednesday.

The second seed will next square off with Coco Gauff, who beat 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva for the third time in as many meetings, 7-5, 6-1. 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 semi-final.

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 quarter-final on clay, cut down on her errors and struck back to book a last-four clash with Gauff. “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. Swiatek had a frustrating start to the match, going down a triple-break 0-5 on a loose forehand that could have been an easy winner into the open court. The second seed trailed by a set in under 30 minutes and went off court for a toilet break to reset.

The script was flipped in the second set as Swiatek sailed to a 5-1 lead, but she couldn´t close out the frame at the first time of asking, as Keys got one of the breaks back and narrowed her deficit to 3-5.

Swiatek didn´t falter on her second chance, and successfully held serve in game nine to level the contest and force a decider. Up to this point, the players never showcased their A-game at the same time but the third set was a different story, as Swiatek and Keys both stepped things up.

It was Swiatek who drew first blood, breaking for a 3-2 advantage, and the 23-year-old pounced again in game seven to advance. On court in the Arantxa Sanchez stadium, Gauff saved two set points while receiving at 4-5 before seizing a one-set lead after 63 minutes of play against Andreeva.