No. 4 seed Coco Gauff dominated No. seed Iga Swiatek of Poland 6-1, 6-1 in a mere 64 minutes in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday.
Gauff set up a showdown in the final against World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who took care of business in the semis with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 17 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
Gauff reached the final at this WTA 1000 event for the first time and is on the precipice of her first title of 2025.
Gauff’s serve was in peak form Thursday, as she won a whopping 19 of 21 first-service points (90.5 percent) and only lost six service points overall. She had seven aces to Swiatek’s one, and Gauff felt that her opponent did not make her run around the court to keep up.
“I think (it was) the mentality that I had the whole match,” the 21-year-old American said in her on-court interview. “I was aggressive and played with margin. Maybe it wasn’t her best level.
“For me, it was just making sure my level stayed the same. In the second, I raised it.”
Gauff holds a 5-4 edge in the all-time head-to-head series with Sabalenka, her most notable victory coming in the 2023 U.S. Open final, Gauff’s first and so far only Grand Slam title.
Sabalenka is heading to her fourth Madrid final. She won in 2021 and 2023 and fell to Swiatek last year.
“Thank you so much guys for the atmosphere you bring here,” Sabalenka told the crowd after the match, per Tennis 365. “It’s really enjoyable playing in front of you. I really love this stadium.”
Sabalenka won 29 of her 38 first-service points (76.3 percent), saved 5 of 7 break points and converted 4 of 6 opportunities to break Svitolina.
Down 40-0 in the final game, Svitolina saved one match point but could not replicate the feat.
Gauff and Sabalenka will meet on Saturday to play for the title.
–Field Level Media
