Swiatek recovers against Keys to reach Madrid Open semis

MADRID, SPAIN - Iga Swiatek kept her Madrid Open title defence alive, as she avenged her Australian Open defeat to Madison Keys with a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against the American in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

The second seed will next square off with Coco Gauff, who beat 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva for the third time in as many meetings, 7-5, 6-1.

Searching for her first title of the season, the second-seeded Swiatek recovered from a poor opening set to improve her clean record on clay against Keys to 4-0 and reach a third consecutive Madrid semi-final.

Keys knocked out the Pole on her way to a maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne three months ago and seemed to have cracked the Swiatek code when she handed her a bagel in the first set on Wednesday.

But Swiatek, who was contesting a 17th consecutive quarter-final on clay, cut down on her errors and struck back to book a last-four clash with Gauff.

"It was one of the weirdest matches I played," said Swiatek on court.

"Madi was playing perfectly at the beginning. I just tried to play a bit shorter, put the ball in. I just stayed in there."

Swiatek is famous for dishing out 6-0 sets and it was unusual for the five-time Grand Slam champion to be on the receiving end of one.

"It didn't feel good. At least it's fast, you know, but that's the only positive thing," she said.

Swiatek had a frustrating start to the match, going down a triple-break 0-5 on a loose forehand that could have been an easy winner into the open court.

The second seed trailed by a set in under 30 minutes and went off court for a toilet break to reset.

The script was flipped in the second set as Swiatek sailed to a 5-1 lead, but she couldn't close out the frame at the first time of asking, as Keys got one of the breaks back and narrowed her deficit to 3-5.

Swiatek didn't falter on her second chance, and successfully held serve in game nine to level the contest and force a decider.

 'GO ALL THE WAY' 

Up to this point, the players never showcased their A-game at the same time but the third set was a different story, as Swiatek and Keys both stepped things up.

It was Swiatek who drew first blood, breaking for a 3-2 advantage, and the 23-year-old pounced again in game seven to advance.

On court in the Arantxa Sanchez stadium, Gauff saved two set points while receiving at 4-5 before seizing a one-set lead after 63 minutes of play against Andreeva.

Gauff cruised in the second set to dismiss the seventh-seeded Russian and reach her first semi-final of the year -- outside of the mixed team United Cup event.

The fourth-seeded American gave herself a 9/10 grade for her performance, adding: "I think I played really well and stayed composed, even when facing those set points.

"I had that tough match in the first round (against Dayana Yastremska), even though it was tough, it kind of woke me up and hopefully I can keep going all the way into the end."

In ATP action, Novak Djokovic's conqueror Matteo Arnaldi earned multiple top-20 wins in one event for the first time by knocking out 16th-seeded Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-5 to move into the Madrid quarter-finals.

The Italian world number 44 will take on Jack Draper or Tommy Paul for a place in the final four.