The final between Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff will be the 16th women’s final in the history of the Mutua Madrid Open. On Saturday 3 May at 18:30 Spanish time, in the Manolo Santana Stadium, the battle of all battles will begin. To mark the occasion, we have compiled 16 reasons not to miss the championship bout in Madrid:
1. The world number one is playing her fourth final in Madrid. It will be Coco Gauff’s first.
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If the American secures the win she will climb to number two in the world ranking, matching her career-best. It would be the first time since 7 March 2022 that Iga Swiatek has dropped out of the top two.
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The triple crown. Sabalenka is bidding to equal Petra Kvitova as the player with the most titles at the Mutua Madrid Open.
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It has been four years since Gauff won her first and only title on clay, in Parma in 2021.
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On her fifth appearance in Madrid, the American could become the youngest player in history to win the tournament.
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It is the sixth final of the year for Sabalenka who took the titles in Brisbane and Miami. She lost the deciders at the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Stuttgart.
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Sabalenka is playing in the Mutua Madrid Open for the seventh time. Four finals in seven appearances. In the other three she failed to win even one match.
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There are eight players who have been finalists in Madrid and have never won the tournament: Caroline Wozniacki (2009), Venus Williams (2010), Victoria Azarenka (2011, 2012), Svetlana Kuznetsova (2015), Dominika Cibulkova (2016), Kristina Mladenovic (2017), Asleigh Barty (2021) and Jessica Pegula (2022).
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The two finalists have previously faced each other nine times. Coco leads their head-to-head, but it is very tight at 5-4. Their last encounter came at the WTA Finals in 2024 and their only clash on clay was in Rome in 2021
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Aryna has not dropped a set all tournament, while Gauff has lost just one. It was her first in the tournament and she lost it to love. All this means that both players are on a ten-set streak at the tournament.
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Coco Gauff could become the eleventh different player to win the Mutua Madrid Open. Kvitova won three times, Halep, Serena and Sabalenka each have two crowns from the Spanish capital.
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Gauff currently sits in 12th place in the Race to the WTA Finals. A win on Saturday would see her climb to sixth.
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Thirteen years on from Serena Williams’ first victory in the Caja Magica. Gauff could become the second American to win the women’s title.
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It has been fourteen years since Petra Kvitova’s first win in Madrid. Sabalenka could equal the Czech’s three titles on Saturday.
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Of the fifteen finals played so far, seven of them went to three sets. The longest was that of twelve months ago between Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka in what was very probably the best women’s game in the history of the tournament. 3 hours and 14 minutes of battle. The last four consecutive finals have gone to three sets.
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Fasten your seatbelts, because the sixteenth women’s final in the Mutua Madrid Open is just around the corner. 16 editions of the best tennis in the world.
