Coco Gauff achieved a remarkable victory over World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals, winning convincingly 6-1, 6-1. This was Gauff`s first ever win against Swiatek on clay.
The match concluded in an astonishing 64 minutes. This dominant performance marks Gauff`s third consecutive win against Swiatek, significantly shifting their head-to-head record after Swiatek had previously led 11-1. Gauff`s victory sends her to her first final in Madrid.
Gauff, who is set to play Aryna Sabalenka for the title on Saturday, delivered a near-flawless performance. After losing the initial game of the match, she went on to win an incredible 11 straight games, ultimately securing 12 of the final 13 points contested.
Her statistics were outstanding: Gauff dropped only two points on her first serve and hit six aces. She won 57 out of 83 points overall and did not face a single break point throughout the match. Gauff finished with 18 winners and a mere four unforced errors. In contrast, Swiatek recorded seven winners against 21 unforced errors.
What made the difference?
“I think the mentality that I had the whole match,” Gauff explained in her post-match interview. “I was aggressive and played with margin. Maybe it wasn’t her best level.” She added, “For me, it was just making sure my level stayed the same. In the second, I raised it.”
The last time Swiatek won two games or fewer on any surface was in a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Jelena Ostapenko. This result in Madrid, against Swiatek`s dominant record on clay, was truly difficult to comprehend.
Fewest games won by Swiatek in clay-court career
Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion, has been nearly unbeatable on red clay. Her .700 win rate against WTA Top 10 opponents over the past 35 years is surpassed only by Steffi Graf (.750).
When reporters asked Swiatek to describe the match, she stated, “Honestly, there’s nothing like to walk through because it was all pretty much the same from the beginning to the end. I couldn’t really get my level up. Coco played good, but, yeah, I think it’s on me that I didn’t really move well, I wasn’t ready to play back the shots with heaviness. With that kind of game, it was pretty bad.”
This marked another challenging start for Swiatek in the tournament. In her opening match, she trailed Alexandra Eala by a set and a break before recovering, and in the quarterfinal against Madison Keys, she lost the first set 6-0 before winning in three.
In this semifinal, after holding her first service game, she lost six consecutive games. For the second day in a row, Swiatek ended the first set having lost six straight games.
The first break for Gauff came in Swiatek’s second service game when a backhand volley failed to land. Gauff broke again for a 4-1 lead after a loose backhand and an errant forehand from Swiatek. The third consecutive break, secured on Gauff’s second set point with a lunging backhand that went wide, cost Swiatek the set.
Gauff’s serve, which has improved throughout the tournament, was particularly strong in the first set; she won all nine of her first-serve points (four of them aces) and faced no break points. She hit 11 winners compared to just four unforced errors in the set, while Swiatek had 13 unforced errors and only five winners.
The pattern continued into the second set. Gauff immediately broke Swiatek for the fourth straight time (and eighth consecutive game overall) with a powerful forehand winner. Swiatek’s frustration became evident when she received an uncharacteristic code violation for an audible obscenity.
Swiatek’s movement, typically a major strength, was visibly lacking. On several occasions, she struggled to recover position after being pushed into the corners.
“I think I pushed kind of with my head for more than I even should, tennis-wise,” Swiatek reflected. “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. 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.”
After trailing 5-0 in the second set, Swiatek finally held her serve, but Gauff quickly closed out the match with a love game, sealed by yet another unreturnable serve.
