MADRID — Coco Gauff overpowered defending champion Iga Swiatek 6-1, 6-1 to achieve the Madrid Open singles last for the primary time Thursday.
Gauff broke Swiatek’s serve 3 times within the first set and twice within the second to cruise to a 64-minute semifinal victory over the second-ranked Swiatek on the clay-court match.
Gauff will face top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-5 to achieve the Madrid last for the fourth time in her profession.
It was Gauff’s first win over Swiatek on clay.
“The mentality that I had in the entire match was aggressive,” the fourth-ranked Gauff mentioned. “Perhaps it wasn’t her greatest degree right now, however I feel I compelled her into some awkward positions.”
Swiatek had recovered from dropping the primary set 0-6 to Madison Keys on Wednesday.
“I could not actually get my degree up,” the four-time French Open champion mentioned. “Coco performed good, however I feel it is on me that I did not actually transfer nicely, I wasn’t able to play again the photographs with heaviness, and with that type of recreation. It was fairly unhealthy.”
The final time Swiatek gained solely two or fewer video games in a match — on any floor — was a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Birmingham in 2019.
“For me,” Gauff added, “it was simply ensuring my degree stayed the identical. Within the second, I raised it.”
Sabalenka returned to the ultimate after ending Svitolina’s unbeaten run on clay this 12 months — she was 9-0 on the floor in 2025, with out dropping a set.
Sabalenka gained the title in Madrid in 2021 and 2023 and was runner-up to Swiatek final 12 months.
Gauff is 5-4 in opposition to Sabalenka and gained their solely prior assembly on clay, in Rome in 2021. The American additionally gained their most up-to-date assembly, on the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh.
By beating Svitolina, Sabalenka turned the primary participant to acquire 30 main-draw wins at WTA occasions in 2025.
Within the males’s quarterfinals, Casper Ruud superior by defeating Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-5 to develop into the primary participant born in 1990 or later to achieve 30 tour-level semifinals on clay.
The Fifteenth-ranked Norwegian had been 0-3 in opposition to Medvedev in his profession.
“I checked out our stats final evening and noticed he beat me on grass, outside laborious and indoor laborious. The final floor was clay so I assumed, ‘please do not make it 4-0,'” Ruud mentioned. “I attempted to make use of the floor to my benefit. I assumed the extent was fairly good from each gamers, I used to be impressed with Daniil’s capacity to supply energy right here on clay.”
Ruud will subsequent face Francisco Cerundolo, who rallied to defeat teenager Jakub Mensik 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Cerundolo had overwhelmed top-seeded Alexander Zverev within the earlier spherical.
In one other quarterfinal, fifth-ranked Jack Draper defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-0, 6-4. Arnaldi had overwhelmed Novak Djokovic within the second spherical. Draper will enter the highest 5 within the rankings for the primary time due to his run in Madrid. He’ll face Tenth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti, who beat Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-3.
