Poland’s Iga Swiatek has secured her place in the first Mutua Madrid Open final of her career with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1 victory over Veronika Kudermetova. The win was achieved in 1 hour and 19 minutes, and Swiatek boasts a dominant 4-0 head-to-head record against Kudermetova. Swiatek has never lost more than six games in a match against Kudermetova. In the final, Swiatek will face Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, for the second time within two tennis tournaments.
The encounter between Swiatek and Sabalenka will be the first time that World No.1 and No.2 will square off in a WTA 1000 final since top-ranked Serena Williams beat second-ranked Li Na for the 2014 Miami Open title. This will also be only the third time in the last 40 years that World No.1 and No.2 will face each other two times on clay during a single season, the others being in 1984 and 2013. Since the start of last season, Swiatek has lost only one match on clay, her only defeat on the surface coming in the 2022 Warsaw quarterfinals against Caroline Garcia.
Swiatek’s victory against Kudermetova also saw her tie with Caroline Wozniacki for the most WTA 1000 final appearances achieved before turning 22 years old since the start of the WTA 1000 tier in 2009. During the match, Swiatek won 50 percent of Kudermetova’s first-service points and 63 percent of points returning Kudermetova’s second serve. Swiatek took the lead in the first set by winning the first seven points before going on to win 5-1. In the second set, Swiatek took a 4-1 lead, and despite Kudermetova powering through for four break points, Swiatek managed to secure her win without dropping a serve throughout the game.
