Though she continued to press Swiatek early in the second set, Swiatek quickly found her rhythm and took a 5-1 lead of her own before ultimately serving out the set two games later.
A tense deciding set unfolded as the pair traded service holds through the first four games. Keys saved two break points in the fifth but Swiatek outrallied the American to earn a third and a netted forehand from Keys gave Swiatek the first break. As Swiatek consolidated her lead Keys sought to amp up her aggression but struggled with consistency, striking two winners but four errors to put Swiatek a game from the finish line.
Keys kept things close as Swiatek served for the match, powering a forehand winner to save match point, but narrowly missed a backhand long. Swiatek, who played remarkably clean tennis in the final two sets, made no mistake on her second opportunity and edged over the finish line in just under two hours.
Having avenged her loss to Keys, Swiatek is guaranteed another opportunity for revenge as she awaits the winner of the quarterfinal between No. 4 seed Coco Gauff and No. 7 seed Mirra Andreeva. Both women won their last two matches against the Pole, Gauff at the 2024 WTA Finals and 2025 United Cup and Andreeva at the this year’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and BNP Paribas Open.
