Madrid: one year later, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka meet in the final, Daniil Medvedev retires in the quarterfinals
The logic was respected in the women’s table, with the qualification for the final of the WTA 1000 in Madrid, Thursday May 2, of the Polish Iga Swiatek and her Belarusian rival Aryna Sabalenka. Quite the opposite for the Masters 1000 with the elimination of Daniil Medvedev, injured and forced to retire after a set – lost – against the young Jiri Lehecka (22 years old).
No time to waste. Held on court for two and a half hours by Beatriz Haddad Maia in the previous round, Iga Swiatek only spent an hour and ten to defeat the American Madison Keys (6-1, 6-3). The Pole easily qualified for the final of her first tournament of the year on clay.
“Satisfied with everything and happy to be still fresh”, Iga Swiatek becomes the sixth player to play in the final of the Madrid tournament two years in a row. A progression compared to her previous outing a fortnight ago, in Stuttgart (Germany), interrupted in the semi-final by Elena Rybakina. The Kazakhstani was beaten in the other semi-final by Aryna Sabalenka (1-6, 7-5, 7-6 [7-5]), who will play her third final in Madrid since 2021. She won the first two, including last year against Swiatek.
Quite a week for Jiri Lehecka. Two days after his landmark victory against Rafael Nadal, the 31st player in the world qualified for the last four at the expense of Daniil Medvedev on Thursday. The Russian, hit in the right thigh and massaged, gave up immediately after losing the first set 6-4.
The Czech will meet the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime in the semi-final, who benefited from the withdrawal of the Italian and number 1 seed, Jannik Sinner. The other semi-final will pit American Taylor Fritz against Russian Andrey Rublev.
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