Gauff dominates Swiatek to reach Madrid final for the first time

MADRID -- Coco Gauff emphatically defeated Iga Swiatek for the first time on clay, 6-1, 6-1 Thursday to advance to the Mutua Madrid Open final.

It was over in an astonishing 64 minutes and constituted a thoroughly complete breakthrough victory for the 21-year-old American who has now beaten Swiatek three straight times. At one time, Swiatek led the head-to-head 11-1 -- and Gauff is the player she’s beaten the most in her career.

Gauff, who will play Aryna Sabalenka for the title on Saturday, was very nearly flawless. After Swiatek won the match’s opening game, Gauff reeled off an incredible 11 straight games, winning 12 of the last 13.

Gauff lost only two points on her first serve and finished with six aces. She won 57 of 83 points and didn’t face a break point. Gauff finished with 18 winners and only four unforced errors. Swiatek was credited with seven winners and 21 unforced errors.

The difference?

“I think the mentality that I had the whole match,” Gauff said in her on-court 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.”

The last time Swiatek dropped two or fewer games on any surface came in a 6-0, 6-2 Round-of-32 loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Birmingham.

This one was, frankly, difficult to fathom.

Fewest games won by Swiatek in clay-court career

Swiatek, a four-time champion at Roland Garros, has been nearly unbeatable on red clay. Only Steffi Graf (.750) has a higher win rate against WTA Top 10 opponents than Swiatek (.700) in the previous 35 years.

Afterward, Swiatek was asked by reporters to walk them through what happened.

“Honestly, there’s nothing like to walk through because it was all pretty much the same from the beginning to the end,” she said. “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.”

It was another painfully slow start for Swiatek. In her opening match, she trailed teenager Alexandra Eala a set and a break before coming through. In Wednesday’s quarterfinal against Madison Keys, Swiatek dropped the first set 6-0 before rallying to win in three.

Here, she held serve to start the match -- and lost six consecutive games. For the second straight day, Swiatek left the court after losing six straight games in the first set.

It happened this way: Gauff scored the first break of serve in Swiatek’s second service game. Coming forward, Swiatek couldn’t land a backhand volley and it was 2-1, Gauff. And then it happened again when a loose backhand followed by an errant forehand gave Gauff a 4-1 lead. The third straight break, coming on Gauff’s second set point -- it was a lunging backhand that traveled wide -- cost Swiatek the set.

Gauff, whose serve has improved as the tournament progressed, won all nine of her first-serve points (four of them aces) and did not face a break point. She hit 11 winners, against only four unforced errors. Swiatek, on the other hand, had 13 unforced errors and only five winners.

It continued in the second set. Gauff broke Swiatek for the fourth straight time (and eighth consecutive game overall) by lacing a forehand winner. Swiatek’s frustration was evident when she was called for an uncharacteristic code violation for an audible obscenity.

Swiatek’s movement, usually her calling card, wasn’t there. On numerous occasions, she struggled in the corners when trying to scramble back into a neutral position.

“I think I pushed kind of with my head for more than I even should, tennis-wise,” Swiatek said. “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.”

Trailing 5-0, Swiatek finally held serve but Gauff closed it out in a love game that ended with another unreturnable serve.