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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday May 4, 2023

 
Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek stretched her winning streak to nine with a dominant victory over Veronika Kudermetova on Thursday night in Madrid.

Photo Source: Getty

Iga Swiatek continues to run roughshod over the competition on her beloved red clay.

Tennis Express

The World No.1 raced past Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova 6-1 6-1 on Thursday evening in Madrid, stretching her current winning streak to nine matches and setting a rematch of last month’s Stuttgart final with World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka.

Swiatek, who defeated Sabalenka 6-3, 6-4 in Stuttgart for the title, has won all three contests and all six sets she has played against the Belarusian on clay (5-2 overall).

The pair's second meeting marks the third time that the WTA's No.1 and No.2-ranked players have met in clay-court finals in the same season in the last 40 years.




"I think it's gonna be a nice final," Swiatek said. "Playing against Aryna is always tough and you have to be intense and keep your focus. For now I'm going to rest and use this time to get my fuel up, but I'm sure that I'm gonna be ready for the final."

The Pole has now won her first eight WTA semifinals on clay, as she pushed her all-time record on the surface to an eye-popping 53-7. She will bid for her 14th WTA title on Saturday, her seventh on clay, and her first at Madrid, where she is making her second appearance.

Swiatek dominated proceedings from start to finish to improve to 4-0 lifetime against Kudermetova – she has dropped just four games in the pair’s last three meetings.

She saved all five break points she faced – one while serving for the set at 5-1 in the opener, the other four while serving at 4-1 in the second set.


Swiatek converted seven of 12 break points and hit 13 winners against nine unforced errors (compared to 11 winners and 26 unforced errors for Kudermetova).

After going three sets with Ekaterina Alexandrova in the round of 16, Swiatek has lost just five games across her last two matches.


 

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