MADRID: With a convincing victory over Veronika Kudermetova, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek produced yet another strong display to secure a first-time spot in the Madrid Open final.
In a late-night semifinal on Thursday, the Kazan-born No.12 seed was defeated 6-1, 6-1 by the Polish tennis player, who jumped out to a commanding lead in both sets.
best seed Swiatek won the opening WTA 1000 clay-court match of the year in 1 hour and 19 minutes, extending her commanding lead against Kudermetova to 4-0. Against Kudermetova, Swiatek has never lost more than six games in a row.
With this convincing win, Swiatek advances to the final where she will face World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka for the second consecutive WTA Tour event. Sabalenka defeated No. 9 seed Maria Sakkari in the opening semifinal of the day.
Swiatek defeated Sabalenka in the Tennis Grand Prix final in Stuttgart eleven days ago. Before Saturday's Madrid final, Swiatek had a 5-2 overall win-loss record versus Sabalenka. Also, Swiatek has prevailed in each of their previous three encounters on clay courts.
Swiatek, who debuted in the WTA 1000 tier in 2009, is tied with Caroline Wozniacki for the most WTA 1000 final appearances made before turning 22 after reaching her seventh career final this past week.
Swiatek scored the first seven points of the game to take a 5-1 lead. Later, in the seventh game, he survived a break point with a rally backhand winner and finished off the set.
Top-seeded In the second set, Swiatek again established a dominating 4-1 lead, but Kudermetova fought off four break points. Swiatek overcame each of those opportunities as she gradually advanced to victory in the nightcap without ever dropping serve.
Only three times in the previous 40 years will the World No. 1 and No. 2 play each other twice on clay during the same season. Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert did it in 1984 at Roland Garros and Amelia Island, while Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova did it at Roland Garros and Stuttgart in 2013.
This is the first WTA 1000 final in which the World No. 1 and No. 2 will face off since Serena Williams, the top-ranked player, defeated Li Na, the second-ranked player, to win the 2014 Miami Open.
Swiatek is 27-1 on clay since the beginning of last season; her lone loss on the surface during that time period occurred against Caroline Garcia in the 2022 Warsaw quarterfinals.
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