In a dominant performance in Madrid on Thursday, Coco Gauff secured her first-ever clay-court victory against Iga Swiatek, winning decisively 6-1, 6-1 to reach the Mutua Madrid Open final. The match lasted a mere 64 minutes and represented a significant milestone for the 21-year-old American. This win marks Gauff`s third consecutive victory over Swiatek, dramatically shifting their head-to-head record from a previously dominant 11-1 lead for Swiatek, who had beaten Gauff more than any other player.
Gauff`s performance, setting up a final clash against Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday, was almost perfect. After dropping the initial game to Swiatek, Gauff proceeded to win an extraordinary 11 consecutive games, ultimately claiming 12 of the final 13. She was highly effective on her first serve, dropping just two points and hitting six aces. Gauff won 57 out of 83 points overall and successfully defended against every break point opportunity. Her statistics highlighted her control: 18 winners compared to a mere four unforced errors. In contrast, Swiatek recorded seven winners and a significant 21 unforced errors.
When asked about the key to her success, Gauff attributed it to her mindset throughout the match. “I think the mentality that I had the whole match,” she stated in her post-match interview. “I was aggressive and played with margin. Maybe it wasn’t her best level. For me, it was just making sure my level stayed the same. In the second, I raised it.” This defeat marked an exceptionally rare poor performance for Swiatek, particularly on clay. The last time she won so few games (two or less in a set) on any surface was during a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Jelena Ostapenko. The lopsided score against Swiatek on clay was truly remarkable and unexpected.
Swiatek, a dominant force on clay and a four-time Roland Garros champion, boasts one of the best records against Top 10 opponents on this surface in decades, second only to Steffi Graf. Reflecting on the match, Swiatek admitted she struggled to find her form. “Honestly, there’s nothing like to walk through because it was all pretty much the same from the beginning to the end,” she told reporters. “I couldn’t really get my level up. Coco played good, but, yeah, I think it’s on me that I didn’t really move well, I wasn’t ready to play back the shots with heaviness. With that kind of game, it was pretty bad.”
This match continued a trend of difficult starts for Swiatek in the tournament. In her first round, she had to recover from being a set and a break down against Alexandra Eala, and in the quarterfinal against Madison Keys, she lost the first set 6-0 before winning in three. Against Gauff, after holding her initial service game, Swiatek lost six games in a row, mirroring her first-set struggles from the previous day.
The decisive breaks came quickly. Gauff broke Swiatek in her second service game, taking a 2-1 lead after Swiatek missed a backhand volley. Gauff extended her lead to 4-1 with another break, this time resulting from a loose backhand followed by a wild forehand from Swiatek. Gauff secured the first set with a third consecutive break, capitalizing on Swiatek`s lunging backhand that went wide on the second set point.
Gauff`s serve, which has shown improvement throughout the event, was particularly effective in the first set. She won all nine points when her first serve landed, including four aces, and did not concede a single break point opportunity. Her aggressive play resulted in 11 winners against just four unforced errors in the set. Swiatek struggled with control, hitting only five winners while accumulating 13 unforced errors.
It continued in the second set. Gauff immediately broke Swiatek`s serve for the fourth straight time, extending her run to eight consecutive games overall, sealed by a powerful forehand winner. Swiatek`s growing frustration was clear, culminating in an unusual code violation for an audible obscenity.
Swiatek herself acknowledged issues with her movement, typically a strength of her game. She admitted to struggling to recover and get into optimal position after being pushed into the corners. “I think I pushed kind of with my head for more than I even should, tennis-wise,” Swiatek commented. “Today for sure everything kind of collapsed, both tennis-wise and I feel like I wasn’t even in the right place with my feet before the shots. I wish I would have moved better, because I think that would get me any opportunity to bounce back, because this is usually what happens.”
Down 5-0, Swiatek managed to hold her serve to avoid a complete bagel, but Gauff swiftly closed out the match in the following game, winning it to love with another powerful, unreturnable serve.
Rupert Caldwell