Iga Swiatek survives Shnaider scare as Madison Keys eases past Donna Vekic at Madrid Open

Tuesday, 29 April 2025 at 15:56

With normal service resuming at the Madrid Open, it was same old for defending champion Iga Swiatek albeit through a scare against 13th seed Diana Shnaider who proved that despite indifferent form as of late, she still has the tools.

The No.2 seed would've been thinking it was set to be a pretty simple with a bagel to start off proceedings but Shnaider fought back to seal the second set in a tie-break. She then battled in the final set but was eventually defeated by the World No.2.

It was 6-0, 6-7(3), 6-4 in the end in two hours and 34 minutes as Swiatek was forced to save 11 out of 13 break points in a match that could've had a whole different outcome had she not saved those likely in favour of Shnaider.

Read also

But Swiatek has form at this tournament. She has yet to lose in the quarter-finals in seven tournaments this year and is defending champion. But the next test is next round as she has not gone past the semi-finals of a tournament since Roland Garros last year. In the last eight, she faces Australian Open champion Madison Keys.

Keys famously defeated her in January at the Australian Open when Swiatek was up a match point and threw it away. But on clay, it is Swiatek's house and she will look to show that. Keys saw off Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 earlier today. Swiatek holds a 4-2 Head to head lead including 3-0 on clay.

It is now 17 consecutive clay court Quarter-Finals for Swiatek, a streak that goes back to her third round loss to Ash Barty in Madrid 2021. it is the longest streak since Martina Hingis made 19 Quarter-Finals in a row between 1997 and 2002.

Will she continue that dominance against Keys, time will tell but having survived a scare she will hope it is only up from here.

Match Statistics Shnaider vs. Swiatek

Shnaider	VS	Swiatek
	Service
0	Aces	5
2	Double Faults	5
72% (65/90)	1st Service Percentage	57% (60/105)
55% (36/65)	1st Service Points Won	70% (42/60)
48% (12/25)	2nd Service Points Won	47% (21/45)
57% (8/14)	Break Points Saved	85% (11/13)
57% (8/14)	Service Games	86% (12/14)
	Return
30% (18/60)	1st Return Points Won	45% (29/65)
53% (24/45)	2nd Return Points Won	52% (13/25)
-	Break Points Saved	-
	Other
2h 36m	Match Duration	2h 36m

Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

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.

Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.

See author's posts

claps 0visitors 0

"I kinda like it here": Ajla Tomljanovic shares message of resilience on social media

Iga Swiatek shares what she did during massive power failure at Madrid Open