Since winning the French Open back in June, Swiatek has not been able to make it to a quarterfinals of an event. She had been in four tournaments since.
This win is a first for American Keys. She has never won a set against a World No.1 player. This is her third match with Swiatek with the top player winning the last two matches. They met earlier this year at Indian Wells where Swiatek won 6-1 6-0.
“It feels great. I obviously have not had the best success against World No. 1s, so being able to get a win against Iga, especially after having two losses to her already, means a lot to me, and I think I’m playing some pretty good tennis,” Keys said afterward.
Match Highlights:
“I was really just thinking that I had to focus a lot on why I got in the position of being up 5-Love. I think I backed off a little bit, and I think she started playing better,” Keys said.
“I just knew that I was going to have to try to put some pressure on her early in the game just to kind of also make her aware of the situation.
All of a sudden it’s 5-4 and she feels like she has to hold that game. So just really trying to swing at the ball, make sure I was moving my feet and put as much pressure on her as quickly as possible.”
The match lasted 85 minutes and both players made 14 unforced errors but Keys hit 14 winners to Swiatek’s 6.
The loss is Swiatek’s second third-round defeat in a row. Earlier, she was knocked out in the third round of the National Bank Open by Brazilian player Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Keys will face Wimbledon runner-up Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals.