Swiatek Swamps Martic To Reach Madrid Masters SF, Kudermetova Upsets Pegula; Thurs SFs

A showdown between Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula won’t happen in Madrid because today the American No. 1 was upset by Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 0-6, 6-4.

“I feel so happy and proud of myself, because every match I played three sets. Before this match, every match was almost 3 hours. Today, only 2 hours, I feel fresh!” said Kudermetova after her fourth straight 3-set win placed her in her first WTA 1000 level semifinal.

After getting blanked in the second, the Russian broke Pegula, a finalist from last year, three times in the third taking three of the last four games to reach her 16th and semifinal and biggest on clay.

“I think first set I start to play really well. On the return I do a lot of winners. I play rallies, I move her. I feel also she was a little bit tired today,” Kudermetova said.

“First set was pretty good for myself, but in the second set, I think Jessica start to play a little bit more aggressive. I was maybe a little bit tired, but to be honest, in the second set I started laughing, ‘Veronika, you want to kill yourself. Again, 3-set battle.’

“But before the final set, I say to myself, ‘Veronika, you need to try to do something, because if you will continue to play like this you will lose for sure. You need to start to play a little bit more aggressive.’ It was very important to break her in the first game.”

In the night match, world No. 1 Swiatek dominated former French quarterfinal Petra Martic 6-0, 6-3. Swiatek took the first seven games of the match. She saved the lone break point she faced early in the first set.

Into her first Madrid Masters semifinal, Swiatek is 8-0 this year on clay and has won 26 of her last 27 on the surface.

“I feel like I’m playing better and better every day,” Swiatek said to the WTA. “This is pretty great, because I didn’t know if that was going to be possible at the beginning of the tournament. But I was patient and I was hoping to get that feeling, and today was for sure a good day.”

So in the Thursday semifinals, Swiatek locks up with Kudermetova. Swiatek leads 3-0 having won most recently in the Doha semifinals.

“For me, it doesn’t really matter what our head-to-head is,” Swiatek added. “I’m just going to focus on myself and what I want to do on court, tactically. It’s never easy to play a semifinal. In semifinals, there are players who’ve played already a great tournament.”

Former champion Aryna Sabalenka tests No. 9 Maria Sakkari. Sabalenka has won five of eight tour-level head-to-head meetings when facing Sakkari. Sabalenka was the victor in their last meeting in the Indian Wells semifinals.

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