When the clock in the Manolo Santana Stadium showed that the Mutua Madrid Open semifinal between Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff had been underway for 50 minutes, the Pole was sitting on her chair with a towel draped over her face. Something was seriously awry with her game: the scoreboard read an unthinkable 6-1, 3-0, and she had a mountain to climb.
A few minutes earlier, when the first set had just finished, the defending champion in the Caja Magica requested a bathroom visit so she could clear her head. It was a good tactic; the day before, Swiatek lost the first set 6-0 to Jessica Pegula. She spent a few minutes in the bathroom before mounting a stunning comeback to earn herself a ticket to the semifinals. However, against Gauff the tactic did not bear fruit.
The American won the match 6-1, 6-1 in just one hour and four minutes to dethrone Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion no less, and qualify for the Mutua Madrid Open final for the first time in her career. In the title bout – which will take place at 18:30 on Saturday – Gauff will cross swords with the winner of this evening’s semi between Aryna Sabalenka and Elina Svitolina.
“I’m happy about the mentality I had throughout the match. I was aggressive and I played with margin. Maybe it wasn’t her best level today, but I think I forced her into some awkward positions”, said Gauff, the No. 4 in the WTA rankings at just 21 years of age, immediately after her match in the Caja Magica’s main stadium.
“It’s important in matches like these to be able to stay focused, above all against a player that can come back at any time like Iga. I’m really happy with the result and with my match because I knew I had to up my level in the second set and I did that”, added the American, who had failed to take a set off Swiatek in their previous three encounters.
On her fifth appearance in the Spanish capital, Gauff will now play her first WTA 1000 final on clay. Her best results before now were the semi-finals in Rome in 2021 and 2024. On both occasions she was knocked out by Swiatek.
