Swiatek Defeats Madison Keys To Qualify For Madrid Open Semi-Final

World number two Iga Swiatek recorded a hard-fought 6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Madison Keys to qualify for the Madrid Open semi-final on Wednesday.

Keys raced to a stunning 6-0 victory in the first set before Swiatek fought back gallantly to emerge victorious.

After losing the first set, The world number two delivered a dominant performance to win the second, and third set to advance to the last four of the tournament.

Swiatek admitted that her performance in the opening set was not good enough, describing the match as weird.

She said: “It was one of the weirdest matches I played, Maddie was playing just perfectly at the beginning and I wasn’t really proactive with anything. I let Maddie make more mistakes by just putting the ball back and the momentum changed.

“At least it was fast, that’s the only positive think,” she said. “I just stayed in there. Obviously it wasn’t easy.

Swiatek is only the second player in the last 40 years to beat an opponent ranked in the top five after losing an opening set 0-6 at a WTA event on clay.

By beating fifth-ranked Keys, Swiatek now has the second highest win percentage against top 10 opposition in WTA Tour history.

Swiatek will take on fourth-ranked Gauff, who defeated seventh-ranked Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-1.

In the men’s category, Jack Draper defeated Tommy Paul 6-2 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open.

The British player was delighted with his performance in the encounter.

He said: “I felt really good out there. I know Tommy is a great player and I had to be on him from the off. I felt good.

“I think probably for the players who are from the UK or who don’t play on this surface often, they go into it with the mindset they are not going to be that great on it and, therefore, that can prevent them going further.

“I know I can play well on this surface and this year it’s been a big goal of mine to prove that I can play really well. I know that if I want to be a top player that I have to.

Draper will now take on Matteo Arnaldi in the last eight on Thursday.

Swiatek Defeats Madison Keys To Qualify For Madrid Open Semi-Final is first published on The Whistler Newspaper