Iga Swiatek avenged a heartbreaking Australian Open defeat in dramatic fashion at the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday, the defending champion rallying from a first-set bagel to defeat Madison Keys, 0-6, 6-3, 6-2.
"It was one of the weirdest matches I’ve ever played," Swiatek said on court after the match. "Madi was just playing perfectly at the beginning and I wasn’t really proactive with anything. But I didn’t feel like it was that bad; I felt the ball well. It just went super long most of the time. I just tried to play a bit shorter, put it in. I think I let Madi do a little bit more mistakes by putting the ball back."
The No. 2 seed has gone the distance in three of her four matches this week but saved her biggest comeback for the fifth-seeded Keys, edging into the semifinals after one hour and 46 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium.
"The momentum changed but I’m not sure why!" said Swiatek. "I just stayed in there and obviously it wasn’t easy to lose the first set 6-0, but I just tried and at the end I’m happy I did."