MADRID – World No. 1 Iga Swiatek recovered from “playing too fast” and losing the opening set to beat Brazilian 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 and move into the Madrid Open semi-finals on April 30.
Said the 22-year-old: “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.”
Swiatek, bidding for her third title in 2024, broke to lead 3-1 in the first set, but Haddad Maia bounced back to break twice, saving three break points in between to level at 4-4, and took the opening set.
That was the first set the Pole had dropped in the tournament, but she had an emphatic response: she completed a bagel in the second set, where the Brazilian failed to force a single break point and Swiatek won two service games to love.
Swiatek, the losing finalist in 2023, continued in the same vein in the deciding set, breaking at the first opportunity to lead 2-0. Although Haddad Maia broke back immediately, the top seed won four of the next five games to complete her comeback.
Having lost their first meeting in 2022, Swiatek has now won the last three matches against the Brazilian.
Swiatek, with wins at Indian Wells and the Qatar Open in 2024, will face either Tunisian eighth seed Ons Jabeur or American 18th seed Madison Keys, who play later on April 30, in the semi-final on May 2. That match took place after press time.
Also on April 30, Poland, spearheaded by Swiatek, were drawn to play hosts Spain in November’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Seville.
Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka’s Japan will take on Romania, while Germany are up against Britain and Slovakia play 18-time champions the United States.
The first-round winners will join already qualified defending champions Canada, Italy, Australia and the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals.
The top four seeded nations received byes into the last eight in Seville’s La Cartuja Stadium, with the other eight teams to play in round one.
Organisers have scrapped the group stage for the finals, scheduled for Nov 12 until Nov 20, opting for a straight knockout competition.
Meanwhile, in the men’s draw in Madrid, world No. 4 Daniil Medvedev became just the 10th active player to reach at the least the quarter-finals of all ATP 1000 events on April 30.
The Russian rallied from a break down in the opening set before recording a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 win over 18th-ranked Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan.
Said Medvedev: “It was a tough match. A lot of drop shots, and I got so tired in the end running for them.
“That’s when you lose your concentration and you start to play a bit worse.
“That’s what happened, but after the match he told me he was dead also. So good for me, at least I was not the only one.
“Generally, I felt like it was a good level. Some good points, some good serving and some bad serving. So it was a bit up and down, but I’m happy that I was able to stay more consistent and win it in the end.”
He will next play either record five-time champion Rafael Nadal or 30th seed Jiri Lehecka in the last eight.
Also making it into the quarters was Medvedev’s good friend Andrey Rublev, who saw off Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 6-4.
The eighth-ranked Russian’s reward is a last-eight date with Carlos Alcaraz.
Spain’s world No. 3 Alcaraz was stretched before prevailing 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4) over Germany’s 24th-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff in the rematch of the 2023 final.
In another match, world No. 2 Jannik Sinner rallied to overcome 17th-ranked Russian Karen Khachanov 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
REUTERS, AFP
