Swiatek survives scare from Shnaider to return to Madrid quarters

A day after a nationwide power outage caused fourth-round action at the Mutua Madrid Open to be suspended, Iga Swiatek got normal service back on track to open Tuesday's rescheduled play -- but only after surviving a serious scare.

The No. 2 seed continued her title defense with a 6-0, 6-7(3), 6-4 defeat of No. 13 seed Diana Shnaider in 2 hours and 34 minutes. After enjoying a 22-minute first-set whitewash, Swiatek was forced to battle hard, saving 11 out of 13 break points over the course of the contest.

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Swiatek has yet to lose before the quarterfinals in seven tournaments this year -- but she has also not gone past the semifinals since Roland Garros last year. In the last eight, she will face Australian Open champion and No. 5 seed Madison Keys, who defeated No. 19 seed Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3. It will be their first meeting since Swiatek fell to the American from match point up in the Australian Open semifinals; she still holds a 4-2 head-to-head lead, including 3-0 on clay (all in straight sets). Keys, who won just three matches across her first nine appearances in Madrid, has now made the last eight for a second year in a row.

Four-time Roland Garros champion Swiatek has now reached 17 consecutive clay-court quarterfinals, a streak that dates back to her third-round loss to Ashleigh Barty at Madrid 2021. It is the longest such streak since Martina Hingis made 19 clay-court quarterfinals in a row between Hilton Head 1997 and Hamburg 2002.

From smooth sailing to narrow escape: A much-anticipated first meeting between the pair did not initially deliver. Swiatek conceded just seven points in the first set as Shnaider, slow to settle, coughed up 13 unforced errors.

But despite the lopsided score, two stats were in the 20-year-old's favor. She came into the contest with a perfect 7-0 career record against Grand Slam champions -- and the last three times she had lost a set 6-0, she ended up winning the match anyway. Shnaider performed a hard reset at the start of the second set, winning the first barnburner of a point with a deft volley, and broke Swiatek for 2-0.

Shnaider held break points in all but one Swiatek service game in the second set -- 11 in total. While the Pole's error count increased sharply -- she committed 34 in the second set alone -- she played her best tennis with her back to the wall, and saved nine of those. But despite Shnaider's frustration at being pegged back repeatedly, she displayed real fortitude to shrug off the missed opportunities and keep hammering away with her swashbuckling left-handed forehand.

Both players had chances to take control of the decider. From 1-1, four straight games featured at least one break point. Only one was converted -- by Swiatek, who unleashed on a backhand return to move up 3-2. Another terrific backhand from the Pole fended off a break-back point in the subsequent game, and that lead proved decisive.

In Swiatek's words: "I think I moved better, and I spin the ball a little bit more," she said of her deciding-set play. "In second set it got pretty windy, and I didn't move my legs properly. I played some shots like not being ready, you know, so for sure that kind of kept my rhythm off. And then Diana also used her chances, and she was more proactive than in the first set. So I think it was a mix of different things."

For Swiatek, her clutch performance on break points was down to playing them like any other, rather than specifically raising her level.

"I treat every point the same way," she said. "I don't feel like I need to change anything on break points. I just trust that it's going to work. That mindste, I think, helps with tension a little bit."