On Saturday, World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is scheduled to compete against World No. 4 Coco Gauff in the final of the Mutua Madrid Open, which is the fifth WTA 1000 event of the 2025 season.
Player Profiles and Season Performance
Sabalenka has reached her 37th career final, with this being her 10th final on clay and her sixth final appearance in the eight tournaments she has played in 2025. So far this season, she has claimed titles in Brisbane and Miami and was the runner-up at the Australian Open, Indian Wells, and Stuttgart. The current World No. 1 boasts a tour-leading 30 victories this year, holding an overall record of 30-5.
Gauff is set to play in her 11th career final. This is her third final on clay, and her first since reaching the Roland Garros final in 2022. It is also her first final appearance since her triumph at the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh. Her record for the season to date stands at 19-6.
Final Schedule
The women`s singles final is slated for Saturday, May 3, starting not before 6:30 p.m. CEST (12:30 p.m. ET) at the Caja Mágica in Madrid. The doubles final will take place the following day, Sunday, May 4, at 3:30 p.m. CEST (9:30 a.m. ET).
Points and Prize Money
By reaching the Madrid final, both Sabalenka and Gauff have guaranteed themselves 650 PIF WTA Ranking points and €523,870 in prize money. The champion of Saturday`s match will receive a total of 1,000 points and a prize purse of €985,030.
Sabalenka is assured of retaining her World No. 1 ranking regardless of the final outcome. Gauff has the opportunity to climb to World No. 2 if she wins the championship.
Road to the Final
Aryna Sabalenka (dropped only one set)
- Defeated Anna Blinkova 6–3, 6–4
- Defeated No. 28 Elise Mertens 3–6, 6–2, 6–1
- Defeated Peyton Stearns 6–2, 6–4
- Defeated No. 24 Marta Kostyuk 7–6(4), 7–6(7)
- This was the longest two-set match of 2025 so far at 2 hours and 34 minutes.
- She saved one set point in the first set and three in the second.
- Defeated No. 17 Elina Svitolina 6–3, 7–5
Coco Gauff (also dropped only one set)
- Defeated Dayana Yastremska 0–6, 6–2, 7–5
- Defeated Ann Li 6–3, 6–2
- Defeated Belinda Bencic 6–4, 6–2
- Defeated No. 7 Mirra Andreeva 7–5, 6–1
- She saved two set points in the first set.
- Defeated No. 2 Iga Swiatek 6–1, 6–1
- This match marked Swiatek’s fewest games won in a clay match since 2019.
Notable Statistics and Streaks
- Gauff could become only the second player this century to win a WTA title after losing her first set 6–0 during the tournament. (Angelique Kerber achieved this at Linz 2013).
- The last player to accomplish this feat at a WTA 1000 (or former Tier I) event was Arantxa Sánchez Vicario at Hilton Head in 1996.
Head to Head Analysis
Coco Gauff currently holds a slight edge in their head-to-head record, leading 5-4 overall. She also leads 1-0 on clay surfaces and 1-0 in matches that were finals.
Their first encounter was in the second round of Lexington in 2020, where the then-ranked No. 53 Gauff secured her third career Top 20 win against No. 2 seed Sabalenka with a score of 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4. Sabalenka got her revenge in the same round at Ostrava later that year, coming back from a 5-2 deficit in the third set to win 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(2).
Their only previous clay court meeting occurred in 2021 at Rome, where Gauff ended Sabalenka`s seven-match winning streak with a 7-5, 6-3 victory in the third round.
Since 2021, all their subsequent matches have been on hard courts. In 2022, Gauff overcame a 3-0 deficit in the third set to win 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(4) in the third round of Toronto. Their 2023 meetings were split: Sabalenka dominated Gauff 6-4, 6-0 in the Indian Wells first round, but Gauff achieved her first Grand Slam title by defeating Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the US Open final.
In 2024, they met three times, all in semifinals. Sabalenka won a tight match 7-6(2), 6-4 at the Australian Open before going on to win her second major. She then came back from a set and 4-2 down to defeat Gauff 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in Wuhan. However, Gauff won their most recent match 7-6(4), 6-3 at the WTA Finals in Riyadh on her way to claiming the title.
Potential Milestones
This is Sabalenka`s fourth Madrid final, which ties Simona Halep for the most final appearances at the tournament since its beginning in 2009. Sabalenka is aiming for her third Madrid trophy, which would equal Petra Kvitova`s record (2011, 2015, 2018). Sabalenka previously won in 2021 and 2023 and was the runner-up to Iga Swiatek in 2024.
At 20 years old, Gauff is the second-youngest Madrid finalist in the tournament`s history, surpassed only by Caroline Wozniacki, who was 18 when she finished runner-up in 2009.
Sabalenka has an undefeated 5-0 record against Top 10 opponents in 2025 (in completed matches), a feat not achieved by any player since Serena Williams in 2014. She is also the first player since Martina Hingis in 2001 to reach six finals within the first four months of a single season.
Gauff holds a 2-1 record against Top 10 opponents this year, with both wins coming in Madrid this week against Mirra Andreeva and Iga Swiatek. She is seeking her fourth career win against a reigning World No. 1, having previously defeated Ashleigh Barty (Rome 2021, via retirement), Swiatek (Cincinnati 2023), and Sabalenka (2024 WTA Finals Riyadh).
Gauff will be competing to improve her impressive 9-1 record in career finals. Her only loss came against Swiatek at Roland Garros 2022. A win would give her her 10th title in her 11th final; in the Open Era, only Nancy Richey and Anna Smashnova won their first 10 finals, doing so in fewer or the same number of attempts.
Between 2020 and 2024, only six players managed to defeat both Sabalenka and Swiatek in the same tournament: Victoria Azarenka (2020 US Open), Garbiñe Muguruza (Dubai 2021), Maria Sakkari (2021 WTA Finals Guadalajara), Barbora Krejcikova (Dubai 2023), Elena Rybakina (Indian Wells 2023), and Gauff (2024 WTA Finals Riyadh). However, in just the first four months of 2025, three players have already achieved this “Sabalenka/Swiatek double”: Madison Keys (Australian Open), Mirra Andreeva (Dubai), and Jelena Ostapenko (Stuttgart).
Gauff has the potential to become the first player to defeat both Sabalenka and Swiatek in one tournament on two separate occasions. Furthermore, a victory for Gauff would mark the first calendar year in the Open Era where four different players have defeated both the World No. 1 and World No. 2 in the same event.
Rupert Caldwell