Iga Świątek signed a masterclass performance on Thursday afternoon to reach the final of the Masters 1000 in Madrid. 

Iga outplayed the American Madison Keys in straight sets (6-1; 6-3). The Varsovian, which recently breached the symbolic threshold of 100 weeks spent as world number 1, is still in remarkable form. Only the Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia managed to take a set from her in the Spanish capital so far. 

Świątek started the match with authority, breaking her opponent immediately and taking a comfortable 3-0 love. at 3-1, Iga faced some resistance and even had to save two break points. Having done that, she sealed the first set in the blink of an eye following a second break (6-1). 

The Pole remained in front in the second set and managed to break at 2-1. Keys did not give up, but could not find a solution to Świątek’s aggressive tennis. Eventually, Iga sealed the win after only 70 minutes of play (6-3). 

https://twitter.com/WTA/status/1786053350980522244

The final in Madrid is scheduled for Saturday. The Polish champion will face the winner of the clash opposing Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina (4) to the Belorussian Aryna Sabalenka (2). Last year, the latter prevented Iga from grabbing the trophy so we could be witnessing a remake of last year’s battle in a couple of days. 

The Varsovian, which recently breached the symbolic threshold of 100 weeks spent as world number 1, is still in remarkable form. Only the Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia managed to take a set from her in the Spanish capital.

It will be the 11th time that Swiątek will be performing in a Masters 1000 final at only 22. She won 8 out of the 10 finals she played so far. As far as statistics are concerned, the Pole has reached the final in 55.6% of WTA main draws she has entered on clay, the highest percentage of any player with five or more appearances on this surface in the 21st century. 

Image: WTA

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen