MADRID — Coco Gauff delivered one of the most dominant performances of her career on Thursday, dismantling defending champion Iga Swiatek 6-1, 6-1 to book her place in the Madrid Open final for the first time.
Gauff, the world No. 4, needed just 64 minutes to cruise past the second-ranked Swiatek, breaking her serve three times in the opening set and twice more in the second. It was Gauff’s first victory over Swiatek on clay, and she credited her aggressive mindset for the breakthrough.
“I came in knowing I had to be the aggressor,” said Gauff. “It may not have been her best day, but I think I made things uncomfortable for her from the start.”
Gauff will face world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s final. Sabalenka earned her place in the championship match with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Elina Svitolina, ending the Ukrainian’s 9-match unbeaten run on clay this season. The victory marks Sabalenka’s fourth trip to the Madrid final; she lifted the trophy in 2021 and 2023 and finished runner-up to Swiatek in 2022.
Their head-to-head stands narrowly in Gauff’s favor at 5-4. The American won their lone clay-court meeting in Rome back in 2021 and most recently prevailed in the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Sabalenka, now the first player to reach 30 main-draw victories on the WTA Tour in 2025, is looking to secure her third Madrid title.
Swiatek, who had mounted an epic comeback in the previous round against Madison Keys, admitted she wasn’t at her best. “I didn’t feel like I had the rhythm today,” she said. “Coco played well, but I take responsibility—I wasn’t moving the way I needed to, and I couldn’t generate the heaviness in my shots.”
The 6-1, 6-1 defeat marks one of the most lopsided losses of Swiatek’s career. She hadn’t won fewer than three games in a match since a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Birmingham in 2019.
Ruud Reaches Semis, Cerundolo and Draper Advance
On the men’s side, Casper Ruud took a major step forward in his clay-court résumé by defeating Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-5 to move into the semifinals. With the win, Ruud becomes the first player born after 1990 to reach 30 career tour-level semifinals on clay.
“It’s the only surface I hadn’t lost to him on,” Ruud joked after the win. “He beat me on every other type of court—grass, indoor, and outdoor hard—so I was hoping clay would finally go my way.”
Ruud will next face Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, who staged a gritty comeback to eliminate teenage talent Jakub Mensik 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2. Cerundolo had already upset top seed Alexander Zverev in the previous round, further highlighting his dangerous form on clay.
In other quarterfinal action, British star Jack Draper continued his red-hot run by defeating Matteo Arnaldi 6-0, 6-4. Arnaldi had shocked Novak Djokovic earlier in the tournament, but couldn’t replicate the magic against Draper. Thanks to his performance in Madrid, Draper will enter the ATP top 5 for the first time in his career.
He will next face 10th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti, who took care of business against Gabriel Diallo with a 6-4, 6-3 win.
