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Match Details
Fixture: (1) Iga Swiatek vs Madison Keys.
Tournament: Western & Southern Open.
Date: August 18, 2022.
Round: Third Round (Round of 16).
Venue: Lindner Family Tennis Center, Ohio, United States.
Category: WTA 1000.
Surface: Hard.
Prize money: $2,527,250.
Match timing: Not before 1 pm local time, 7 pm CET, 5 pm GMT, 10.30 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - Rogers Sportsnet, TSN | UK - Amazon Prime Video.
Iga Swiatek vs Madison Keys preview
Top seed Iga Swiatek will face off against home hope Madison Keys on Thursday for a place in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.
The Pole has gone a bit quiet since her early-season heroics. Having won six titles in the first half of the year, including the French Open, Swiatek has been struggling for form since her second Major title.
The 21-year-old's best performance in her post-Roland Garros run was just a quarterfinal finish at her home event in Warsaw.
The US Open Series, too, didn't begin on a good note for the World No. 1 as she slumped to a defeat in the round of 16 in Toronto. Swiatek is desperately trying to get back her rhythm this week, with Cincinnati being her last tournament before the US Open.
She began her challenge on Wednesday with a gritty 6-4, 7-5 win over former US Open winner Sloane Stephens, which would have surely boosted her confidence.
Keys, meanwhile, made a thunderous start to the year with a title in Adelaide and a semifinal appearance at the Australian Open. Since then, the American hasn't been able to maintain her consistency.
The 27-year-old's most notable performances following the Australian swing were a quarterfinal finish at Indian Wells and a run to the round of 16 at Roland Garros.
She has also suffered early exits in the two tournaments that she has played in the ongoing US Open Series prior to arriving in Cincinnati. After a second-round defeat in San Jose, Keys was bundled out in the very first round in Toronto last week.
There has, however, been a spark of resurgence in Keys at the Western & Southern Open this week. She has so far played a couple of good matches, ousting both Yulia Putintseva and 16th seed Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets.
The 6-4, 7-5 win over the former French Open winner in the second round would give Keys tremendous self-belief ahead of her meeting with the World No. 1.
Iga Swiatek vs Madison Keys head-to-head
Swiatek has a flawless 2-0 lead over Keys in their head-to-head, having won both their encounters so far in straight sets. While their first meeting was in Rome last year, their most recent showdown was earlier this year in Indian Wells, where Swiatek demolished Keys 6-1, 6-0.
Iga Swiatek vs Madison Keys odds
(All odds sourced from Oddschecker)
Iga Swiatek vs Madison Keys prediction
Although Swiatek has beaten Keys twice in the past and is the favorite to win their upcoming clash, she needs to work on her serve before facing the American.
The Pole landed 68% of her first serves and managed to win just 32% of her second-serve points against Stephens. She will need to improve those numbers against the big-serving Keys.
Having said that, Swiatek has an edge over Keys in all the other departments of her game even though she lags behind in serve. Her speed, court coverage, anticipation skills and most importantly, return are far better than Keys' and she will look to make the most of it.
With such a solid ground game, the Pole will be keen to rush Keys and force her into making errors. Having also displayed more mental strength than the American under pressure, Swiatek definitely has it in her to earn her third consecutive win over the former World No. 7.
Pick: Swiatek to win in two tight sets.
