Gauff routs Swiatek to reach Madrid Open final, Ruud beats Medvedev

Coco Gauff overpowered defending champion Iga Swiatek 6-1, 6-1 to reach the Madrid Open singles final for the first time Thursday. Gauff broke Swiatek's serve three times in the first set and twice in the second to cruise to a 64-minute semifinal victory over the second-ranked Swiatek at the clay-court tournament. “The mentality that I had in the whole match was aggressive,” the fourth-ranked Gauff said. “Maybe it wasn't her best level today, but I think I forced her into some awkward positions.” Swiatek had recovered from losing the first set 0-6 to Madison Keys on Wednesday.

Gauff will face either top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka or Elina Svitolina in the final. In the men's quarterfinals, Casper Ruud advanced by defeating Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-5 to become the first player born in 1990 or later to reach 30 tour-level semifinals on clay. The 15th-ranked Norwegian had been 0-3 against Medvedev in his career.

“I looked at our stats last night and saw he beat me on grass, outdoor hard and indoor hard. The last surface was clay so I thought, please don't make it 4-0,'” Ruud said. “I tried to use the surface to my advantage. I thought the level was pretty good from both players, I was impressed with Daniil's ability to produce power here on clay." Ruud will next face Francisco Cerundolo, who rallied to defeat teenager Jakub Mensik 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Cerundolo had beaten top-seeded Alexander Zverev in the previous round. The Madrid Open was disrupted on Monday because of the major blackout that brought Spain and Portugal to a standstill. More than 20 matches had to be postponed at the Caja Magica tennis complex, creating a packed schedule the rest of the week. (AP)