Madrid. The world number one, Iga Swiatek, became a finalist in the Madrid tournament this Thursday after beating the American Madison Keys in her semifinal 6-1, 6-3.
Swiatek, runner-up last year in Madrid, needed only one hour and ten minutes to reach her second consecutive final in the Spanish capital.
The Pole now awaits her rival, who will emerge from the second semifinal between the world number two, Aryna Sabalenka, current champion of the Madrid tournament, and the Kazakh Elena Rybakina in the last match of the day.
If Sabalenka wins her semifinal, Swiatek will have the option to take revenge for last year.
Swiatek, winner in Indian Wells and Qatar this year, did not give any chance to her rival, world number 20, who had beaten the Tunisian Ons Jabeur (number 9) in the quarterfinals, and her compatriot Coco Gauff (number 3) in the round of 16 .
After working in the quarterfinals for two and a half hours to beat Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia (number 14) in three sets on Tuesday, Swiatek regained her cruising speed this Thursday.
“I’m very happy to have had such a solid game today,” Swiatek said after the game.
“Madison is a great player with a very fast game and a great serve, so I wanted to focus on myself and I’m glad I was able to do that,” she added.
The Pole, who lost in the semifinals last week in Stuttgart against Rybakina in her first clay tournament of 2024, took advantage of her rival’s numerous mistakes to accelerate towards the final.
In the first set, Swiatek broke her rival’s serve in the second and sixth games to win with authority.
Keys tried to react in the second set, but broke serve in the third game, leaving Swiatek ahead.
In the next game, the American had a counter-break opportunity that she did not take advantage of and the Pole opened a gap that was impossible for Keys to recover.
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– 2024-05-06 03:11:26
