Iga Swiatek may have been thinking here we go again as Madison Keys stole the first set of their Madrid Open tie 6-0 to move into the lead but she rallied back to seal it 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the end.
She has uncharacteristically been pushed and dropped sets to both Alexandra Eala and Diana Shnaider at the Madrid Open. She has shown infinite grit though as she showed superb instinct to come back and win the next two fairly comfortably.
She now faces either Coco Gauff or Mirra Andreeva in Thursday's semi-finals. Gauff is currently a set and a break up so their rivalry is likely to be renewed. Swiatek's poor start was eroded by the unforced errors in favour of Keys. Keys hit 35 to 25 for Swiatek. She looked more comfortable in the second.
Keys ramped up her unforced errors from two to 15 in the second as Swiatek broke her serve twice and converted a second set point when a forehand return found the net.
The first break of the third came with Keys serving at 2-2. After saving two break points, Swiatek rallied with a lunging backhand volley with a Keys forehand into the net following. Swiatek opened up the court and found the angles with ease as Keys found it difficult to carve out an opportunity.
A forehand from Keys sailing out saw the end of her run as she was defeated and couldn't repeat her Australian Open heroics.
“Honestly, it was one of the weirdest matches I’ve ever played,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview. “I didn’t feel like [the first set] was that bad. I felt the ball well -- it just went super long.
“I tried to play a bit shorter, and with some mistakes by Maddy, the momentum changed in the end. I’m happy that I did it.”
Match Statistics Keys vs. Swiatek
| Keys | VS | Swiatek |
|---|---|---|
| Service | ||
| 4 | Aces | 3 |
| 3 | Double Faults | 4 |
| 69% (43/62) | 1st Service Percentage | 53% (38/72) |
| 70% (30/43) | 1st Service Points Won | 63% (24/38) |
| 42% (8/19) | 2nd Service Points Won | 47% (15/32) |
| 43% (3/7) | Break Points Saved | 33% (2/6) |
| 64% (7/11) | Service Games | 67% (8/12) |
| Return | ||
| 37% (14/38) | 1st Return Points Won | 30% (13/43) |
| 53% (17/32) | 2nd Return Points Won | 58% (11/19) |
| - | Break Points Saved | - |
| Other | ||
| 1h 46m | Match Duration | 1h 46m |
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Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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