Swiatek reflects on the 6-0 loss in the first set: "After such a score, you have to move on"

Victorious against Keys (0-6, 6-3, 6-2), Swiatek advances to the semifinals of the Madrid tournament. She will face Gauff for a spot in the final. Trailing 6-0 in the first set, it was the first time the Polish player had suffered such a scoreline in a clay-court set since Roland-Garros 2019 against Simona Halep (6-1, 6-0).

In a post-match interview relayed by *L’Équipe*, the 23-year-old player reflected on her performance:

"Madi was playing very well, and I wasn’t. But that first set doesn’t really matter. After such a score, you have to move on. It was obvious that things needed to change. I managed to seize my chances afterward, and I’m satisfied with that. She was playing very well, and I was serving poorly. Against such a player, bad serving makes things difficult.

In the first set, I wasn’t getting many balls in play. When I managed to fix that, it pushed her to make more errors. Tactically, I was finally able to execute what I had planned from the start. The strategy didn’t change—it’s just that I couldn’t keep the ball in play in the first set. She was playing very well, and I was serving poorly.

Against such a player, bad serving makes things tough. She was serving incredibly well, hitting two or three aces per game with serves at 190 km/h. But that’s why it’s good to have second sets to adjust. I started serving better, and that helped me."