Coco Gauff delivered a commanding performance to shock defending champion Iga Swiatek in the Madrid Open semi-finals on Thursday, cruising to a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory. The 21-year-old American broke Swiatek five times and didn’t face a single break point in the match, sealing the win in just 64 minutes.
Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion and a powerhouse on clay, struggled throughout her title defense. After dropping sets earlier to Alexandra Eala and Diana Shnaider, she also suffered a bagel against Madison Keys in just 24 minutes during her quarter-final match—though she did bounce back to win that encounter. However, Gauff proved too strong, dismantling the Pole with a powerful serve and confident baseline game.
This marks Gauff’s first win over Swiatek on clay and continues her impressive 2025 form. “I felt great on court today,” said Gauff. “She’s tough to beat on this surface, but I knew if I could beat her on hardcourt, I could do it on clay too.”
Gauff, who had a slow start in the tournament with a three-set battle against Dayana Yastremska, hit her stride with three consecutive straight-set wins before returning to center court for this marquee showdown.
On the men’s side, Norwegian clay-court expert Casper Ruud secured his place in the semi-finals with a 6-3, 7-5 win over world No. 10 Daniil Medvedev. Ruud broke early in the first set and again late in the second, converting two of his eight break chances. Medvedev, who is known to struggle on clay, failed to produce a single break and was plagued by 33 unforced errors and four double faults.
Ruud will face Francisco Cerundolo next, who rallied past Jakub Mensik 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2. In other men’s quarter-final clashes, Jack Draper will take on Matteo Arnaldi, while Lorenzo Musetti meets Gabriel Diallo.
Speaking of Musetti, the Italian advanced after a solid 6-4, 6-2 win over Australia’s Alex De Minaur in the round of 16. Musetti converted 3 of 10 break points and hit 15 winners, while De Minaur struggled with just five winners and a staggering 27 unforced errors.
In another major upset, Canada’s Gabriel Diallo defeated No. 15 seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-6(7), 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.
On the women’s side, Aryna Sabalenka survived a tough challenge from Marta Kostyuk and tricky weather to reach her fourth Madrid Open semi-final. The top seed took the first set in a tiebreak and held her nerve to win the second 7-6(9), despite a rain delay that interrupted the tie-breaker.
As the Madrid Open heads into its final stages, the tournament continues to deliver thrilling upsets, bold breakthroughs, and unexpected twists on the clay.
