Coco Gauff was utterly dominant as she dispatched defending champion Iga Świątek 6-1, 6-1 in just 64 minutes to reach the Madrid Open final, handing the five-time grand slam champion one of the worst defeats of her career.
It was Gauff’s first career win over Świątek on clay and the American will now face world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s final after the Belarusian defeated Elina Svitolina in the second semifinal.
Victory over Sabalenka on Saturday would lift Gauff above Świątek in the world rankings to a new career-high of No. 2.
After holding serve in the opening game of the match, Świątek went on to lose an extraordinary 11 straight games.
Gauff dropped just two points all match on her first serve and didn’t face a single break point in a remarkably one-sided match. Per the WTA, Świątek has only won fewer games in a clay-court match once in her career: a 6-1, 6-0 defeat to Simona Halep at the 2019 French Open when she was 18.
“I think I was aggressive and played with margin,” Gauff said in her post-match interview. “Maybe, it wasn’t (Świątek’s) best level today, but I forced her into some awkward positions. I’m really happy with how I played.
“Especially when you’re playing someone like Iga, you know at any moment she could come back and play great tennis. For me, it was just making sure my level stayed the same.
“I knew in that second set I had to raise (my level), especially because she could come back, so I’m really happy with how I played.”
Świątek previously enjoyed an 11-1 head-to-head record against Gauff and had become something of a headache for the American. But Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, appears to have gained the upper hand in their rivalry recently and has now won three straight against the world No. 2.
Świątek, a clay-court specialist who’s won four times at Roland Garros, has now lost six straight semifinals and hasn’t even reached a tour final since winning the 2024 French Open.
“Today, for sure, everything kind of collapsed, both tennis-wise and I feel like I wasn’t even in the right place with my feet before the shots,” Świątek told reporters, per the WTA.
“I wish I would have moved better because I think that would get me any opportunity to bounce back because this is usually what happens.”
Gauff is searching for a third WTA 1000 title in only her third final, after winning the 2023 Cincinnati Open and 2024 China Open.
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