Second seed Iga Swiatek will face Coco Gauff in the semifinal of the 2025 Madrid Open on Thursday, May 1. It will be their 15th meeting on the WTA Tour.
Journey to the semifinal
Iga Swiatek had to win some tough matches on her way to the last four, as she lost three sets in her first four matches. The Pole defeated Alexandra Eala 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round.
Swiatek eased past Linda Noskova in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in the third round and then faced resistance against Diana Shnaider in the fourth round, as she won 6-0, 6-7(3), 6-4.
The five-time Grand Slam champion faced this year’s Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the quarterfinal and lost the first set 0-6. But Swiatek came back strong and won the next two sets 6-3, 6-2.
On the other hand, World No. 4 Coco Gauff has reached the semifinal after dropping just one set at the event so far. She was bagelled in the first set against Dayana Yastremska in the second round, she did not drop a set after that.
Gauff defeated the Ukrainian 0-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the second round and brushed aside her compatriot Ann Li 6-2, 6-3 in the third round. She took revenge of the Indian Wells loss against Belinda Bencic in the fourth round by beating her 6-4, 6-2.
The American faced the 18-year-old Russian, Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinal and defeated her 7-5, 6-1 to book her place in the semifinal. It was her third consecutive win against Andreeva.
Head-to-head record
Iga Swiatek leads Coco Gauff 11-3 in their previous head-to-head meetings. Gauff won their previous two meetings, but they were on hard court. They have met five times on clay and Swiatek has won all of their matches on the surface.
Past record at the event
Iga Swiatek is making her fourth appearance in Madrid and she won the title in 2024 after beating Aryna Sabalenka in the final. In 2023, she reached the final and faced a tough, three-set loss against Sabalenka.
Swiatek has a 17-2 win-loss record at the Madrid Open and she would be hoping to make it 18-2 as Aryna Sabalenka leads her by more than 3000 points in the WTA Rankings and she would be hoping to decrease her lead on the top.
Coco Gauff is making her fifth appearance in Madrid and she has reached the semifinal for the first time at the event. The American has a 9-4 win-loss record at the event.
Gauff will become World No. 3 next week once again, as Pegula had overtaken her in the WTA Rankings earlier this month, but Pegula lost in the third round in Madrid. Gauff would be hoping to increase her lead in the rankings against her compatriot by reaching the final.
Prediction
Iga Swiatek will be the favorite to win this match, as she has always dominated Gauff on clay. Swiatek’s past record at the event is also much better than her opponent.
