Iga Swiatek
Top seed Iga Swiatek will face Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open
Iga Swiatek was invincible in 2022 and she has replicated her form even this year. However, she has choked in the final stages of some of the tournaments in 2023 and she would definitely like to rectify that.
Swiatek has won two WTA titles already this year – the Qatar Open and the Stuttgart Open besides reaching the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Masters and finishing as runners-up at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
The World No.1 women’s star is coming into this match at the back of a comfortable win against Petra Martic.The Polish ace began her campaign with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Julia Grabher and followed it up with a commendable win over No.28 seed Bernarda Pera before getting the better of Ekaterina Alexandrova. Swiatek is clearly the favourite to go all the way and clinch the title – it would be a huge upset if she fails to do so.
Kudermetova came to Madrid at the back of three consecutive first-round exits in her previous tournaments. Despite being a seeded player in all the events, the Russian wasn’t quite able to live up to expectations. Her best performance so far this year came at the Qatar Open earlier this year in February. She had an incredible run to the final but eventually lost to top seed Iga Swiatek finished as runners-up.
She made a good start at the Madrid Open registering a commendable 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win over Nuria Parrizas-Diaz in her first encounter. The Russian then got the better of her compatriot Anastasia Potapova followed by another victory against fellow Russian and No.8 seed Daria Kasatkina. She pulled off a major upset in the quarter-finals, beating 3rd seed Jessica Pegula in an intense clash. It remains to be seen if the Russian star can cause another huge upset in the semis.
Date – Friday, 5th May
Court Type – Clay outdoor surface
Telecast – Tennis Channel
Start Time – 12:50 am IST
Location – Madrid, Spain
Match details – Semi-final
Swiatek and Kudermetova have played each other three times before on the WTA tour. The World No.1 has absolutely dominated their past head-to-head meetings and currently leads 3-0. On paper, Swiatek is the outright favourite going into this match both in terms of form and rankings, but we can certainly expect Kudermetova to put up a promising display. It is expected to be an intense clash and we are predicting a win for Swiatek in three sets.
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