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05/01 10:54 CDT Gauff routs Swiatek to reach Madrid Open final, Ruud beats
Medvedev
Gauff routs Swiatek to reach Madrid Open final, Ruud beats Medvedev
By TALES AZZONI
AP Sports Writer
MADRID (AP) --- 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.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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