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Mutua Madrid Open: Iga Swiatek storms past Madison Keys into her second consecutive final in Spanish capital | Tennis News


World No 1 Iga Swiatek booked a spot in her second consecutive Mutua Madrid Open final with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Madison Keys on Thursday.

Swiatek needed just 71 minutes to reach her third final of the year and move one step closer to her third WTA 1000 title of the year in a one-sided semi-final.

The Pole finished runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka at Madrid last year and could now meet the Belarusian in a rematch should the second seed overcome former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina later today.

Swiatek broke serve in the second game of the match and, after saving two break points for a 4-1 lead, never looked in danger of relinquishing the upper hand against her big-hitting opponent.

“(I feel) really good,” Swiatek said in a courtside interview broadcast on Sky Sports.

“I wasn’t really thinking about what happened last year, but for sure repeating this great result is a great thing and I’m going to have a chance to play a nice match in two days, so it’s really exciting and I’m happy overall with the whole tournament.”

Expected?

Swiatek has equalled equals Aryna Sabalenka for the most WTA main draw matches played in 2024 without a single game dropped on serve (eight)

Tale of the Tape

Iga Swiatek vs Madison Keys: Match Stats

‘Swiatek played with huge amount of confidence’

“As expected Iga Swiatek got off to a fast start and never looked back,” Anne Keothavong said on Sky Sports Tennis. “She was the better player in every department. Just had too much for Madison Keys, who did her best to try and live with her in some of her exchanges and there were some moments where you thought she’s going to blast her way past Iga but she just wasn’t able to produce that kind of tennis consistently.

“Iga played with a huge amount of confidence.”

Sky Sports Tennis pundit Colin Fleming added: “Iga Swiatek is the ultimate test on clay in the women’s game right now. Keys’ good stuff was good enough but it was just few and far between. She had three break points in the match but couldn’t quite take them but there’s no shame in that.

“Swiatek is so relentless on this surface.”

Race to the WTA Finals

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Jamie Murray says the ATP Tour have made a good start in the decisions they’ve made to market doubles tennis better but feels there’s still more to improve

Britain’s Jamie Murray and his doubles partner Michael Venus defeated French duo Fabien Reboul and Sadio Doumbia 0-6 6-4 10-2 to makes the semi-finals in the Spanish capital.

The tournament is trialling a faster men’s doubles format, with greater focus on matches between singles players and established doubles teams.

Teams are allowed just 15 – rather than the usual 25 – seconds between points after rallies up to three shots, and only 60 seconds to sit down at the change of ends.

What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?

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Find out all the ways to watch tennis on Sky Sports, including the US Open, ATP and WTA tours

In the run-up to the second Grand Slam of 2024 – the French Open at Roland Garros from May 26 – you can watch all of the biggest tennis stars in action live on Sky Sports as they compete across the clay-court season.

  • Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (ATP and WTA Masters 1000) – May 7-19
  • Geneva Open (ATP 250) – May 20-26
  • Lyon Open (ATP 250) – May 20-26
  • Internationaux de Strasbourg (WTA 500 with Emma Raducanu in action) – May 20-26
  • Morocco Open (WTA 250) – May 20-26

How to watch play on Sky Sports Tennis

The stars of tennis will appear on the new Sky Sports Tennis channel every day
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The stars of tennis will appear on the new Sky Sports Tennis channel every day

Sky Sports has confirmed a new home for tennis in the UK and Ireland, with Sky Sports Tennis on Sky and NOW, making tennis content available all day, every day for fans.

Sky Sports will broadcast more live tennis than anywhere else, bringing over 4,000 matches from more than 80 tournaments a year on the ATP and WTA Tours, as well as full coverage of the US Open, all exclusively live.

Non-Sky subscribers can stream live matches with a NOW Sports Day and Month Membership, via Sky Sports Tennis, Sky Sports Arena, and Sky Sports Mix channels.

For further access, fans will also be able to follow their favourite players and gain deeper insights from both Tours via Sky Sports News, the Sky Sports app, on SkySports.com and via Sky Sports social channels.

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