Madrid Open: Keys, Swiatek reach quarter finals

Madison Keys rallied from first and third-set deficits to defeat Coco Gauff in the fourth round of the Mututa Madrid Open on Monday 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals at the Caja Mágica for the first time in her career.

Keys trailed 5-2 in the first set and 4-2 in the final set, but rallied in 2 hours and 30 minutes to defeat Gauff for the third time in five career meetings.

The elder of the two Americans now owns a win over Gauff on hard courts, clay and grass — and she’s the first American not named Jessica Pegula to beat Gauff since Sofia Kenin in the first round of Wimbledon last summer.

The 2017 US Open finalist entered Madrid having lost in the first round in seven of her nine previous trips to Madrid, but a quarterfinal showing this year betters her previous best, which was a third-round showing in 2016.

“I definitely had to stay tough,” Keys said afterwards. “Being able to just stay calm and trust myself, and get myself out of tough sets was really important. I was just trying to take the opportunities when they presented themselves.”

Keys will next face former Madrid champion Ons Jabeur, the No.8 seed, for a spot in her sixth career WTA 1000 semifinal. Jabeur is 2-0 against Keys all time and hasn’t lost a set, but both of their previous matches have come on hard courts.

No.1 seed Iga Swiatek stormed into her second Mutua Madrid Open quarterfinal with a 6-1, 6-0 defeat of Sara Sorribes Tormo, the last home player remaining in the draw.

The Pole won the last 12 games of the match, and dropped just five points in the second set.

A runner-up last year to Aryna Sabalenka, Swiatek is bidding for a first title at the only clay-court tournament at WTA 1000 level or above that she has yet to win.

The Pole improved to 4-0 overall against Sorribes Tormo in their first meeting on clay, and advances to her fifth quarterfinal of 2024.

Swiatek will next face No.11 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, who also preserved an unbeaten record to reach her second quarterfinal of the season. The 27-year-old is now 4-0 overall against Maria Sakkari after defeating the No.5 seed 6-4, 6-4, her 11th career Top 10 win and second of 2024.