Polish Tennis Star Iga Świentek Advances to Fourth Round of Madrid Masters 1000 Tournament

Polish Iga Świentek, ranked first in the world, reached the fourth round of the Madrid Masters 1000 Tennis Tournament, by defeating American Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-2 in a “tricky match”.

Chivontec is preparing to defend its French Open title, its second Grand Slam tournament, in the best possible way, as it achieved its sixth successive victory on clay courts this season against the world number 29.

“I can’t say it was (the match) easy. Every match is tricky here,” said the Polish woman, after she needed 75 minutes to beat her opponent.

She added, “I am happy that I am getting into my style. Playing against a player who plays with her left hand is not easy, but I am very happy because I was organized and focused.”

And the 21-year-old set up a date with the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova (16).

She joined Chivontec to the fourth round, the American Jessica Pegula, ranked third in the world, who won with difficulty over Czech Mari Bouzkova 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).

Pegula, 29, who reached the final of the Madrid tournament last year when she lost to Tunisian Anas Jaber, faces Italian Martina Trevisan for a place in the quarter-finals.

Alcaraz to confront Zverev

In the men’s game, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, ranked second in the world, successfully defended his title by defeating Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (32) 6-2, 7-5 in the third round.

Alcaraz, 19, will face German Alexander Zverev in the final price, who needed only 56 minutes to beat Frenchman Hugo Garnier 6-1, 6-0.

Alcaraz suffered at his beginning in Madrid, specifically against Finn Emil Rossofiore (41), who advanced a set, then got several balls to settle the match in his favor in the second set, before “Carlitos” succeeded in turning the equation in his favor 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Friday. .

In this regard, the Spaniard said: “I am a person who learns from the mistakes he made. There were a lot of things to improve after the first match. Above all, the goal today was to take advantage of them.”

However, the Spaniard managed against Dimitrov to avoid the previous scenario, as he broke his opponent’s serve from the start and settled the first set in 30 minutes.

In the second group, and after the exchanges of the fans of the Spanish capital, Dimitrov was able to take the advantage 4-2, but the winner of the 2022 United States Championship quickly rose up, to break his opponent’s serve for the last time and settle the match in his favor after an hour and a half.

About his match against the Bulgarian, he said: “I played a very complete match, played very well, moved well, hit the ball well. Above all, I didn’t lose my DNA, which is to play hard. This match gives me a lot of confidence for the future.”

In the absence of his compatriot Rafael Nadal and Serbian Novak Djokovic, ranked first in the world, Alcaraz is considered the most prominent to retain his title a month before the start of Roland Garros.

Alcaraz hopes to win his tenth title in his career before reaching the age of 20.

For his part, Zverev, twice winner in Madrid, broke his opponent’s serve six times in exchange for 26 successful games on his serve.

“It will be tough whoever I play against,” said Zverev, who faces Alcaraz in a repeat of last year’s final. “Of course with Carlos it will be a match people are looking forward to.”

And the 26-year-old added, “We played in the final here last year. We played a huge match at Roland Garros before I got injured.”

The balance is tilted in favor of Zverev, who beats Alcaraz by winning 3 matches against defeat in the confrontations between them, and their last meeting was in the quarter-finals of the French Open last year.

Russia’s Andrei Rublev easily beat Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 7-5, while compatriot Karen Khachanov struggled to beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.