Iga Swiatek and Veronika Kudermetova complemented the semifinals line-up of WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open. Swiatek has expectedly prevailed against Petra Martic in today's quarterfinal, defeating the Slovenian with a one-sided score 6-0 6-3. It was an ultimate performance from the world's ranking leader, who was the banker favorite ahead of the match against the tournament's 27th seed. Swiatek gave absolutely no chance for Martic in the opening set, ending it up after 27 minutes with a bagel. Second set brought quite more contenction, as it was decided by only one break, gained by the Pole in 6th game. At the end, Swiatek has needed just 4 breakpoints to make it through with a dominating perfomance, as she was super crucial during the big points today. 4 out of 4 chances converted, and the only one breakpoint faced in the opening set was defended by the world's number one.
"I feel like I am playing better and better every day. This is pretty great, because I did not 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. I am just going to focus on myself and what I want to do on court, tactically. It is never easy to play a semifinal. In semifinals, there are players who have played already a great tournament. I need just to be ready." - said Swiatek in the post-match interview.
Veronika Kudermetova has reached out her third semifinal of the season by making an upset on Jessica Pegula. The Russian, who was rated with an odd 2.94 ahead of the match against the world's number 3, advanced into semis after defeating the favorized American in three sets with a score 6-4 0-6 6-4. Kudermetova was on the front foot from the start, as she broke Pegula twice in a row in the opening games of first set. The American managed to leveled the score from being a break down twice, but Kudermetova regained her advantage in 7th game and took care of it till the end of the set. Second phase has foreshadowed a strong comeback from Pegula, as the American blew her opponent off the court in this set, as she won it with a bagel, giving away just 5 single points on the road. Whole the second set has lasted just 22 minutes. Once everyone could expect it to be the definitive turnaround, Kudermetova regrouped herself pretty well and regained the momentum from the start of the third set. It had a simillar turn of events as the opening one, as the Russian gained the break advantage twice, but Pegula managed to level the score to make it 3-3. 7th game of the decider was crucial, as Kudermetova broke her higher ranked opponent to love and held the serve twice to win the match.
Here are the thoughts shared by Kudermetova in the post-match interview: "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 it was only 2 hours, so I can feel fresh! 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. 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, three-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."
Iga Swiatek will be undoubted favorite ahead of the semifinal's clash against Veronika Kudermetova. The Russian is a very comfortable opponent for Swiatek, who has won all of 3 matches played between themselves so far. The extent of those victories mean a lot, as Kudermetova managed to win just... 2 single games in 2 previous matches against the Pole. The latest meeting took place in Doha, also in the semifinal, where Swiatek defeated Kudermetova 6-0 6-1 in just 57 minutes.
