No.1 seed Iga Swiatek came from a set down to book her place in her second straight Mutua Madrid Open semifinal, defeating No.11 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 in 2 hours and 29 minutes.
Back at Toronto 2022, Swiatek lost her first career encounter with Haddad Maia in the third round. She has now won three straight matches over the Brazilian, having also trumphed in last year's Roland Garros semifinals and at this year's United Cup.
The Pole advances to her fifth semifinal of 2024 so far, and the 15th of her career at WTA 1000 level. She will face either No.8 seed and 2022 champion Ons Jabeur or No.18 seed Madison Keys.
Swiatek's second-set scoreline also tied her with Coco Gauff for the most number of 6-0 sets won in 2024 to date. Both have notched seven such sets, two ahead of third-placed Aryna Sabalenka with five.
How the match was won: Though Swiatek took an early 4-1 lead in the first set, the World No.1 was far from her best in a scrappy opening passage of play. She had squandered triple break point in the second game thanks to cheap backhand misfires, and had needed to save break point in two of her own service games.
Haddad Maia had also started slowly, conceding her serve in the fourth game with a double fault. However, once her big forehand strikes began finding the court, she was able to take advantage of Swiatek's vulnerability on serve to reel off five straight games for the set.
After committing 13 unforced errors to only eight winners in the opener, Swiatek responded in style. Raising her intensity in every department, she rattled through a run of eight games in a row, smothering Haddad Maia with both offense and defense. Swiatek lowered her error count to five in the second set, during which she did not face a break point and dropped only 12 points in total. By contrast, Haddad Maia found only one winner against 14 unforced errors.
Swiatek took her momentum deep into the third set, building a quick 4-1 lead. With her back to the wall, Haddad Maia was able to land a few more accurate blows, and Swiatek had to work harder to close out the win. She was up to the task, unleashing a pair of heavy forehands to seal victory.
In Swiatek's words: "I needed to for sure stick to the tactics, because in the first set I started making too many mistakes. I started playing too fast.
"I just needed to really get back to basics and what I wanted to play today. It took me a while, longer than usual, but I'm glad that it happened after the set anyway."
I woke up early to check the scores of this one and as usual my blood pressure went up after seeing the first set result.
But instead of falling back asleep I decided to follow it to see how it would go. Guess I just had a good feeling and thankfully Iga proved me right.
The way she turned this match around was something else, she's such a great front runner and has such an amazing match win record after taking the first set, but it's a little less impressive when she loses it.
Today she showed her champions mentality once again and just dug in. The remaining sets score line may look easy but she had to work for almost every point with some outstanding rallies.
It's actually quite fun to see Iga dig herself out of trouble when her back is against the wall like this. It forces her to play even better and show what she's really made of.
Next up will be a bit of a surprise in Madison Keys who was losing 6/0 2/0 before turning it around in 3 against Ons Jabeur who to be honest kind of let this match go.
It's really too bad because she was finally making some real progress this season here in Madrid.
At least she has a lot of positives to take away from this tournament.
Hard to say what to expect from Keys, because she's one of those players who's so hot and cold with her serve and game.
But as long as Iga stays calm and sticks to her gameplan all the way through I think we'll be good.
It also gives me hope that the only time Madison beat Iga was on the quick hardcourts of Cincy a few years ago.
I think as long as Iga plays her game and keeps her moving it should be a match played on her terms (even with Madison's serve).
Jazda Iga we believe in you!.
Favourite stats:
30-4 in 2024
8-1 on clay in 2024
Iga Swiatek is 63-0 in matches where she has won at least a set by 6-0.
10 - Claiming the second set 6-0 against Beatriz Haddad Maia, Iga Swiatek has become the second player to achieve 10+ 6-0 sets at WTA-1000 events on clay, along with Simona Halep (17) - completed matches. Fightback.
25 - Defeating Beatriz Haddad Maia in Madrid, Iga Swiatek has now equalled Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova (29) for the fewest matches taken to achieve 25 WTA-1000 wins on clay, since the format’s introduction in 2009. Gritty.
15 - Iga Swiatek has reached a 15th WTA-1000 semi-final since the start of the 2020 season. Swiatek is the only player with 10+ WTA-1000 SFs over that span, with Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari the next-best (eight each). Benchmark.
Iga Swiatek is 63-0 in matches where she has won at least a set by 6-0.
10 - Claiming the second set 6-0 against Beatriz Haddad Maia, Iga Swiatek has become the second player to achieve 10+ 6-0 sets at WTA-1000 events on clay, along with Simona Halep (17) - completed matches. Fightback.
25 - Defeating Beatriz Haddad Maia in Madrid, Iga Swiatek has now equalled Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova (29) for the fewest matches taken to achieve 25 WTA-1000 wins on clay, since the format’s introduction in 2009. Gritty.
15 - Iga Swiatek has reached a 15th WTA-1000 semi-final since the start of the 2020 season. Swiatek is the only player with 10+ WTA-1000 SFs over that span, with Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari the next-best (eight each). Benchmark.
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