6 months ago
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World number one Iga Swiatek breezed into a second straight Madrid Open final with a comfortable victory against Madison Keys.
A dominant Swiatek needed just 70 minutes to wrap up a 6-1 6-3 win against the American 18th seed.
The Pole, who is bidding for a third title of 2024, finished runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in Madrid last year.
Belarusian second seed Sabalenka will set up a repeat of the 2023 final if she defeats Elena Rybakina later on Thursday.
Swiatek, 22, controlled her match against Keys from the offset as she raced to a 3-0 lead in the opening set, dropping just three of the first 17 points.
The four-time Grand Slam champion, who is a clay-court specialist, broke and consolidated to go 3-1 up in the second set before striking again on Keys' serve at 5-3 to reach her third WTA 1,000 final this season.
Keys, a US Open finalist in 2017, could not capitalise on the few chances she had, missing out on three break points and making 28 unforced errors to Swiatek's eight.
Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev will play Jiri Lehecka in the only men's singles match on Thursday after Italian top seed Jannik Sinner withdrew from his quarter-final meeting with Felix Auger-Aliassime with a hip injury.
