Iga Swiatek sails past Madison Keys, scores second straight Madrid final

Iga Swiatek booked her spot in a second straight Mutua Madrid Open final on Thursday, the world No. 1 knocking out Madison Keys, 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals.

Swiatek led Keys 2-1 in their head-to-head but lost their most recent match at the 2022 Cincinnati Open; playing on a decidedly slower surface, the three-time Roland Garros champion made quick work of Keys, seeded eighteenth, to avenge the defeat and reach her 11th WTA 1000 final since 2021 in 70 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium.

"Repeating this result is a great thing, and I'm going to have a chance to play a nice match in two days," Swiatek said on court. "It's really exciting and I'm really happy overall with the tournament."

The top seed returned to the Caja Magica in search of the one major clay-court title to elude her, having lifted the trophy in Paris, Stuttgart, and Rome multiple times in her still-young career. Despite taking her first-ever loss at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix earlier in the month, Swiatek appeared unrattled through her first three matches, dropping a total of eight games. Her lone hiccup came in the quarterfinals against Beatriz Haddad Maia, losing the first set before easing past the No. 11 seed, 4-6, 6-0, 6-2.

Awaiting her in the semis was Keys, a former Roland Garros semifinalist who has had up and down results on clay through her decade and a half on tour, reaching the Internazionali BNL d’Italia final in 2016 but compiling a disappointing 3-9 record in Madrid prior to this season.

“My literally entire career, everyone has been, You'll love Madrid. It's amazing. You're going to do so well there. And I have lost, like, first or second round except for once every single year,” Keys said after defeating Jabeur.

The 2017 US Open finalist set about turning that around in style this spring, shocking No. 3 seed Coco Gauff and No. 8 seed Ons Jabeur to book a fourth career meeting with Swiatek.

“I guess this year it's finally clicking and maybe it is suited for my game, or at least this Madison's game,” she added, calling herself older and wiser.

Still, Swiatek on clay may be the toughest out in tennis right now, and Keys’ former discomfort with the surface was on display against a near-flawless performance from the world No. 1. Playing a clean first set, Swiatek drew 12 unforced errors from the American and broke serve twice—fending off two break points in a pivotal fifth game—to sweep the set in 31 minutes.

The second set played out in similar fashion when Swiatek opened with another break and remained in front despite Keys' efforts to draw level. Serving to stay in the match, Keys attempted to shake things up at net only to miss twice to put Swiatek two points from the final. A powerful Swiatek return set up three match points as the contest hit the 70-minute mark; the Pole only needed one to slide into a second Madrid final.

Waiting for her there will be another big hitter as the second semifinal will take place between No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina—who won their most recent match in Stuttgart—and No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka.