Iga Swiatek staved off the end of her Madrid Open title defence with a gutsy three-set win against Madison Keys 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
The world No. 2 rebounded from a demoralizing first set — where Keys gave her the rare breadstick — to keep up her perfect clay-court record against the American, moving to 4-0. Unseeded Swiatek, looking for her first title this season, went through to her third consecutive Madrid semi-final, where she will take on third seed Coco Gauff.
“It was actually one of the weirdest matches I played,” Swiatek said. “Madi was playing perfectly. I just stayed in it, tried to adjust my level and fight back.”
Swiatek fell behind by a triple break in the first set and briefly left the court to use the toilet and reset. ell players.No, Fognini’s upward trajectory is real.Starting the final as the No. 33 player in the world, she sprinted to a 5-1 lead in the second set and leveled the match by holding at love in the ninth game.
Both players stepped up their level in the decider, and even though Swiatek was the first to break early for 3-2, she broke again to seal the win.
Meanwhile, Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi backed up his Novak Djokovic upset by knocking off Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-5 to reach the last eight.
