Swiatek marches into Miami semis, Ruud upsets Zverev

Poland’s Iga Swiatek continued her terrific run with a 6-3 6-3 win over Petra Kvitova yesterday to reach the Miami Open semi-finals, while Norway’s Casper Ruud upset men’s second seed Alexander Zverev in their quarter-final clash.Swiatek, who came to Miami full of confidence after claiming back-to-back titles at Doha and Indian Wells, pressured twice Wimbledon champion Kvitova’s serve throughout the 77-minute match and never faced a break point.The Polish second seed, who will take over the world number one ranking next week, has now won 15 consecutive matches dating back to Qatar and will next face 16th seed Jessica Pegula.“I want to use the confidence that I built since the beginning of Doha,” said Swiatek. “I’m on a roll and I want to use that. Having that kind of streak got pretty tricky, but I’m pretty glad that I could play well, that I’m healthy, and that I can compete against players like Petra. She’s a legend.”Pegula advanced after Spanish fifth seed Paula Badosa retired with a viral illness while trailing 4-1. “Been struggling with illness since the last match the other day,” Badosa wrote on Twitter. “Tried everything to recover but wasn’t enough. I’ll take some days to recover well and prepare for clay court season.”For Pegula, it marked the second consecutive abrupt ending to a match as unseeded Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinin retired while down 6-0 in their fourth-round clash. Norwegian sixth seed Ruud secured the biggest win of his career with a 6-3 1-6 6-3 triumph over world number four Zverev. After Zverev levelled the match, it was Ruud who was the aggressor in the decider as he frequently approached the net with great success, held tough during baseline rallies and limited his unforced errors. Ruud had failed to win a set in two previous meetings against Zverev.Djokovic still No.1Meanwhile yesterday Daniil Medvedev missed a chance to reclaim the world number one ranking after falling to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 at the Miami Open.Medvedev fell from the top with a third-round loss to Gael Monfils at Indian Wells but would have taken back the spot from Serbia’s Novak Djokovic had he defeated Hurkacz, the defending Miami Open champion.Instead, 10th-ranked Hurkacz advanced to the semi-finals by ousting the reigning US Open champion and 20-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic stays No.1. “He’s such a great player. It’s really tough to play against him,” Hurkacz said. “With Daniil you are going to play some longer rallies so you have some time to figure things out.”