MELBOURNE. — A rampaging Iga Swiatek stormed into her second Australian Open semifinal with a 6-1, 6-2 center court demolition of eighth seed Emma Navarro on Wednesday as the world No. 2 underlined her title credentials once again at Melbourne Park.
The quarterfinal passed with a note of controversy, though, with Swiatek scooping up a drop shot that looked perilously close to a double-bounce in the fifth game of the second set, which proved a hammer blow for Navarro.
A throbbing ball of energy from the first point to the last, Swiatek’s win at a sundrenched Rod Laver Arena set up another American match-up with Madison Keys, who overhauled ElinaSvitolina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the earlier quarterfinal.
“I think it was much tougher than the score shows,” Swiatek said on court.
The Pole has a 4-1 record against her next opponent Keys but expected a tough test against the American.
“Madison is a great player and really experienced, so you never know. The match that I lost, she kind of killed me, so I think it can be tricky,” she added.
After beating Ukrainian Svitolina, Keys had said she looked forward to cheering on Navarro as her compatriot took on the five-time Grand Slam champion.
But she was left to ponder the scale of her task as she looks to secure her first Grand Slam final since the 2017 US Open.
Most eyes had been focused on the top half of the women’s draw, where favorite and double defending champion ArynaSabalenka booked a semifinal with Paula Badosa on Tuesday.
But it may be the free-swinging Swiatek in pole position for the title, having conceded only 14 games in her five matches.
Though the scoreline suggested otherwise, Navarro gave Swiatek a proper battle in the second set and had a break point in the fifth game tinged by controversy.
Swiatek bolted forward to retrieve a drop shot that appeared to have bounced twice on certain angles of the replay before her racket scooped it up.
Play went on, though, with Swiatek winning both the point and the game with a passing shot, leaving Navarro to remonstrate fruitlessly with the chair umpire.
Navarro could not recover from the blow, losing the next three games to bow out.
While Swiatek squandered a first match point with a poor return into the net, she sealed it on the second when a desperate Navarro fired just wide of the line.
Keys had earlier blasted into a third Australian Open semifinal with characteristic aggression to notch up her 10th win in succession.
“To be here 10 years later in the semi-finals again, I’m really proud of myself and really excited to play another semifinal here in Melbourne,” said Keys, who reached the last four in 2015 and 2022.
