Swiatek on course for Madrid-Rome double; to face Keys in quarter-finals

Rome: Top-ranked Iga Swiatek remained on course for an uncommon Madrid-Rome double after beating Angelique Kerber to reach the Italian Open quarter-finals on Monday.

It was a ninth straight win for Swiatek, and the two-time Rome champion will next face Madison Keys after the American player eased past Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-1 in a match that was interrupted by an environmental protest.

Swiatek needed eight set points to secure the opener but had no such problems at the end of the second, sealing a 7-5, 6-3 victory on the first match point when Kerber’s return went wide.

The match against Keys will be a repeat of last week’s Madrid Open semi-final, which Swiatek won. The Polish player is attempting to become the first woman to win the “dirt double” since Serena Williams in 2013.

“For sure, playing against Maddie is not easy,” Swiatek said. “The score was pretty one way in Madrid. It’s kind of easy for your mind to just drift off sometimes. The most important thing is to stay focused and really disciplined.”

Keys’ match in Rome was temporarily suspended at 3-1 in the second set after two protesters jumped onto the court and threw confetti, while others from the environmentalist group glued themselves to the stands.

“As soon as I saw them come over the barrier, my first thought was like, Should I go tackle one of them?’ But I stopped myself,” Keys said. “And then the chair (umpire) started yelling at me to go sit down. “Unfortunately, it’s starting to become a little bit of a common thing that’s happening.”

The players returned to the locker room and the protestors did not resist when security intervened before police and firefighters also arrived to handle the situation.

Two more Americans were through to the quarter-finals after third-seeded Coco Gauff rallied to beat Paula Badosa 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 and Danielle Collins eased past Irina-Camelia Begu 6-0, 6-3.

Second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka fought back from a set down and had to fend off three match points — after getting treatment for a back problem — before beating Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7) in a match that finished well after midnight local time.

Two-time champion Svitolina looked certain to secure the victory on her first match point as she had what should have been the simplest of volleys over the

net with Sabalenka seemingly stranded right at the other side of the court. But Svitolina hit the ball into the net.

Victoria Azarenka, Jelena Ostapenko and Qinwen Zheng also advanced.

In the men’s tournament, defending champion Daniil Medvedev survived a scare before prevailing against Serbian qualifier Hamad Medjedovic 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5 in their third-round match.