'Really excited' Swiatek cruises through to Madrid final, will face Sabalenka

Iga Swiatek has progressed to the Madrid Open final for the second year in a row after a dominant 6-1 6-3 win over Madison Keys.

The world No. 1 has never won the WTA 1000 title in the Spanish capital, but the four-time Grand Slam singles champion will have another shot at the trophy after an emphatic 70-minute win over Keys.

Swiatek will play Sabalenka in a rematch of last year’s final after the world No. 2 came from behind to beat Elena Rybakina 1-6 7-5 7-6(5) in an epic contest lasting two hours and 19 minutes.

“I wasn’t thinking about what happened last year,” Swiatek said after beating Keys.

“But for sure repeating this great result is a great thing and I’ve got a chance to play a nice match in two days.

“Overall I’m really excited and I’m happy overall with the whole tournament anyway.”

Swiatek is aiming for her third WTA 1000 title of the season after winning in Doha and Indian Wells.

The world No. 1 raced off to a perfect start against Keys, winning the first three games in a row as the No. 18 seed struggled to get into any rhythm.

Keys tried her best to keep up with her opponent who was dominating from the baseline, but Swiatek broke the Keys serve again thanks to an unforced error. Swiatek wrapped up the first set in just 31 minutes.

The second set followed a similar pattern with Swiatek breaking the Keys serve to go 3-1 up with a vicious backhand passing shot.

From there Swiatek did not look back and wrapped up another dominant set with a love hold of serve.

Sabalenka booked her place in the final with a hard-fought victory over Rybakina and said she is expecting a “great battle” with Swiatek.

“I’m trying to stay as long as I can to finish the game,” Sabalenka joked in her on-court interview after the match.

“But if I need to play three sets I’m going to do that as good as I can. It’s not bad to have this many hours on court, it’s good practice I guess!

“It’s going to be a great battle [the final]. We always have great matches and I’m going to do everything I can to get this win.”

In a tight opening to the match, it was Rybakina who had the first chance to break at 2-1 up and she took it as Sabalenka crashed a forehand into the net.

In the very next game, Sabalenka had a break point of her own, but Rybakina held her nerve to win the game and retain her break advantage.

The unforced error count kept rising from Sabalenka and a long forehand saw Rybakina seal the double break before she wrapped up the opening set in just 25 minutes with a love hold of serve.

Momentum was firmly with Rybakina who was overpowering her Belarusian opponent. Rybakina broke to take a 2-1 lead in the second set after another unforced error from Sabalenka.

Sabalenka’s frustration began to boil over as she bounced her racquet on the ground. Sabalenka had another chance to immediately break back but Rybakina again maintained her healthy lead.

Sabalenka’s confidence grew as the set progressed, striking with more power, and she broke the Rybakina serve three times in a row to force a third-set decider.

There was nothing between the two players in the final set with not a single deuce point in the first 10 games.

The match was decided on a tie-break and Sabalenka took full control, racing to a 5-1 lead. Rybakina pulled four points back, but Sabalenka finished it off in style with an ace.