Coco Gauff defeats Mirra Andreeva to reach semifinals in Madrid, Iga Swiatek awaits

Coco Gauff won a battle between the two youngest players in the Top 10 of the WTA rankings in the quarterfinals in Madrid on Wednesday, coming back from double set point down to win the first set then cruising in the second set for a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Mirra Andreeva.

Gauff is now into her first semifinal of 2025, having been stopped in her prior two quarterfinals this year at the Australian Open and Stuttgart.

"Definitely, like, a nine," Gauff said in her on-court interview when asked to rate her performance against Andreeva out of 10.

"I think I played really well and was able to stay composed even when I was facing set points, so I'm really happy with how I played today."

Awaiting the world No. 4 in the semifinals will be another blockbuster clash against the world No. 2 and defending champion, Iga Swiatek, a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 winner over Madison Keys earlier in the day.

Andreeva, who just celebrated her 18th birthday on Tuesday, had won her last five matches in a row against Top 10 players, and it looked like she might be on her way to a sixth in a row as she not only served for the first set at 5-4, but also got to double set point at 40-15.

But the match turned on a dime from there, as the 21-year-old Gauff not only saved those set points and broke back for 5-all, but eventually won eight games in a row to build a runaway 7-5, 5-0 lead.

Andreeva held one last time to get on the board in the second set before Gauff served out the one-hour, 32-minute encounter.

"I had that tough match in the first round, and even though it was tough, I feel like it really prepared me," Gauff said, referring to her 0-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory over Dayana Yastremska in her opening match.

"It kind of woke me up, and I've been able to keep doing better, and hopefully I can keep going all the way to the end."

Gauff finished the match with three more winners (18 to 15) and six fewer unforced errors (22 to 28) than the No. 7-ranked Andreeva.

Next up will be one of the most intriguing rivalries on the women's tour, as Gauff will take on Swiatek for the 15th time.

Swiatek leads the overall head-to-head, 11-3, including 5-0 on clay, and she's won all five of those in straight sets, too—7-6 (3), 6-3 in the 2021 Rome semifinals, 6-1, 6-3 in the 2022 Roland Garros final, 6-4, 6-2 in the 2023 Roland Garros quarterfinals, 6-4, 6-3 in the 2024 Rome semifinals and 6-2, 6-4 in the 2024 Roland Garros semifinals.

They've never met in Madrid, though.

And Gauff has actually won their last two meetings in straight sets, both on hard courts—6-3, 6-4 in the round robin of the WTA Finals at the end of last year and 6-4, 6-4 at the United Cup this year.

The women's semifinals in Madrid take place on Thursday.