Coco Gauff scores third straight win vs. Iga Swiatek, into Madrid final

Coco Gauff lost her first seven matches to Iga Swiatek—at one point trailing their head-to-head 11-1—but the American is 3-0 since the end of 2024, stunning the former world No. 1 in a 6-1, 6-1 demolition to reach her first Mutua Madrid Open final.

"[I'm proud of] the mentality I had through the whole match," she said on-court after the match. "I think I was aggressive and played with margin. Maybe it wasn't her best level today but I think I kind of forced her into some awkward positions. I'm really happy with how I played today."

The 2023 US Open champion reached the championship match of her first clay-court WTA 1000 in emphatic fashion against her former nemesis, dethroning the defending champion in 64 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium.

Swiatek had long proven an insurmountable challenge for Gauff, who lost all 11 matches to the Pole in straight sets—five of those matches coming on clay, and three at Roland Garros. But the 21-year-old appears to have found an inflection point in their rivalry since defeating Swiatek in straight sets at the 2024 WTA Finals, and she hasn’t lost a set since, beating her again to start the 2025 season at United Cup.

She saved her most dominant performance for the Caja Magica, where she had never been past the fourth round in four previous appearances. After dropping a 6-0 first set to Dayana Yastremska in her opening match, Gauff has adjusted to the high-altitude conditions with aplomb, scoring back-to-back victories over Belinda Bencic and No. 7 seed Mirra Andreeva to book a rematch with Swiatek.

By contrast, the No. 2 seeded-Swiatek has struggled throughout her title defense, playing three three-setter against Alexandra Eala, Diana Shnaider, and Madison Keys. Though she has reached at least the quarterfinals in all of her 2025 tournament appearances, the five-time Grand Slam champion hasn’t reached a final of any tournament since 2024, whe she won her third straight Roland Garros title.

Swiatek had hoped to regain her momentum on her favorite surface, but was uncharacteristically overawed by Gauff, who broke serve in the third game of the match and never looked back, winning the next 11 straight games to find herself up a set and 5-0 in under an hour.

"You know at any moment she can come back and play great tennis," Gauff said. "So, for me, it was just about making sure my level stayed the same and actually trying to raise it. I knew in the second set, I had to raise it because she could come back!"

Two points from defeat, Swiatek snapped the streak of games with service hold but continued to struggle with her range—striking 21 unforced errors off the forehand side alone—as Gauff earned three match points with an ace. One more big serve brought her over the finish line and into the final.

Standing between Gauff—who struck 18 winners to just seven from Swiatek—and the biggest clay-court final of her career will be the winner of the tournament's second semifinal between world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and streaking No. 17 seed Elina Svitolina, who came to Madrid fresh off a title run in Rouen.

Gauff could become the third woman to beat both Swiatek and Sabalenka this year, having already done so en route to winning the WTA Finals last fall. If she wins the title, she will pass Swiatek for No. 2 in the WTA rankings.