Iga Swiatek had to fightback to beat Madison Keys in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open.
Swiatek lost to Keys at the Australian Open back in January, as she went onto win her first Grand Slam title after beating Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
This was their first meeting since then, as Swiatek admitted her win over Keys felt weird due to the nature of the match.
Despite beating the Australian Open champion, Swiatek also received criticism for something that she did after losing the first set 6-0.
Iga Swiatek admits that Madison Keys did something ‘amazing’ in the first set of their Madrid Open quarter-final
Swiatek beat Keys, 0-6 6-3 6-2, in their quarter-final to continue her Madrid Open title defense.
This was the first time that Swiatek had lost a set 6-0 since her match against Daria Kasatkina at the Eastbourne International in 2021.
It had been even longer since this had happened to Iga Swiatek on clay, having won only one game against Simona Halep at Roland Garros in 2019.
When discussing the first set of her match against Keys, Swiatek admitted that her opponent’s serve was particularly effective.
“I think she played great and I didn’t serve well, so against a player like that when you are not going to serve well it is obvious that it is going to be tough because she was serving great and in every service game she got two or three points by aces or some amazing serves at 190 (km/h) or something,” Swiatek explained in her press conference.
“So when I didn’t get them back I had no chance to win a point and when I didn’t hold my serve it became complicated. But that is why it is good that we have second sets to change something up and I feel like, for sure, I started serving better.”
Keys won 92% of her points on first serve against Swiatek in the first set, who won only half of her first serve points and just one of her nine points on second serve.
Iga Swiatek equals Steffi Graf record after beating Madison Keys
Not only was Swiatek conceding a bagel set (6-0) an unfamiliar feeling for herself, but her comeback also made history on the WTA Tour.
After beating Keys, Swiatek became the first person to beat a top five ranked player on a clay court after losing the first set 6-0 in 35 years.
The last time that this happened was at Roland Garros in 1992, where Steffi Graf fought back to beat fourth seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 0-6 6-2 6-2.
Swiatek has now reached her 20th WTA 1000 semi-final, where she will play Coco Gauff.
The Pole will be encouraged by her head-to-head with Gauff, as she has won 11 of their 14 previous meetings.
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