“I was aggressive and played with margin. Maybe it wasn’t her best level,” Coco Gauff expressed her true feelings on arch rival Iga Swiatek after dominating her in Madrid. On past occasions, it was the Pole who used to outplay the American. But lately, the 21-year-old has gradually begun to pose tough challenges. Last November, at the WTA Finals, Gauff thrashed Swiatek, followed by a second-straight win in the United Cup final earlier this season. Then Madrid gave her a golden chance to clinch a hat-trick of victories against her clay-court nemesis – and she did! Looking at Gauff’s newfound confidence against the former World No.1, ex-ATP pro Andy Roddick has made a bold comment.
In what one was expecting to be an intense battle, Gauff made it a one-sided affair. In the semifinal encounter of the Madrid Open last month, the WTA pro simply gave no chance to Swiatek for a comeback. The final score line was brutal, and it read 6-1, 6-1 in favor of Gauff. Meanwhile, Swiatek was left so disappointed that she was seen crying midway while failing to outperform her American counterpart. And that, too, on clay – the surface where she mostly excels. After all, she’s a four-time Roland Garros champion, right? But Gauff proved to be better than her in Madrid.
In an episode of his Served podcast, the 2003 US Open winner Andy Roddick discussed Gauff’s immense improvement against Swiatek in recent encounters. Talking to journalist Jon Wertheim, he showered praises on the American youngster who’s had a rough 2025 season so far. But in Madrid, she finally regained the winning momentum. “She was emotional afterwards, you could tell she wants to like break through and kind of reenter this conversation, you know, as one of the best players in the world.”
Roddick added, “I think Sabalenka is kind of separated right now. And obviously, Iga has earned the right to be in that conversation all the time. But great week for Coco, net net I mean listen, you beat the person who’s been your toughest matchup one and one on their surface. I don’t care how Iga is playing, she’s still one of the best players in the world on any surface, and Coco made a statement I think.”
Moreover, he went on to coin a term for Gauff’s dominant performance against Swiatek. “I don’t think ‘statement win’ gets thrown around too often, but I was stunned by that score line.” Wertheim agreed, saying, “Remember when Coco beat Iga in Saudi Arabia (WTA Finals group stage)? And we all sort of said you know, keep an eye on this match, it’s the end of the year and it’s not a major, but this had really been one-way traffic.”
He added, “This head-to-head I mean, we all sort of said well you know Coco’s you know, an exceptionally good player and she’s won a major but how is she going to get to number one when she has such a block against Iga. And to have turned that rivalry and now it’s, it wasn’t even a rivalry but to have turned that head-to-head around and then beat her one and one on Clay? We can talk about Iga and this has been a rough year for her so far, but that I think, how is that not a statement win? I mean, I think that’s exactly the term I would use.”
Wertheim noted that Gauff’s been a good clay court player too. After all, she’s been a French Open Juniors winner. Back in 2018, at age 14, she clinched the major after defeating Caty McNally 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) in the summit clash. And then she soon reached the point of repeating the result on the WTA level in 2022. Unfortunately, Swiatek ended her hopes in the final of the Roland Garros. But that’s old stuff now. It appears the American is getting better on clay ahead of this season’s French Open. Probably that’s the reason why, despite the setback in the Madrid final, she’s hopeful to keep doing better in 2025.
Coco Gauff embraces Madrid loss against Aryna Sabalenka with a positive spirit to ‘work even harder’
Since her QF run down under in January, Coco Gauff was struggling for form. In back-t0-back tournaments, she faced early round exits until the Stuttgart Open. On the clay surface, she managed to reach the QF stage before losing to Italy’s Jasmine Paolini. But she stretched this performance in Madrid, reaching her first summit clash of this WTA 1000 event.
In the final obstacle, though, a two-time Madrid Open queen Aryna Sabalenka outperformed her. Prior to this meeting, the American was leading 5-4 against the Belarusian. But the World No.1 leveled the h2h tally soon. She defeated Gauff in straight sets. With a final score line of 6-3, 7-6(3), Sabalenka clinched her third WTA trophy this season.
On the other hand, Gauff wasn’t extremely upset with the end result. Taking this campaign as a motivation for the remaining season, she wrote on her X, “thank you madrid not the outcome I was hoping for today but a lot to be proud of. leaving here with my head up and more motivation to work even harder to do better next time #Godstiming”
Gauff’s next challenge will be to maintain her solid form in Rome ahead of the French Open. She’s set to kickstart her campaign this week at the Italian Open. Her first round opponent is yet to be confirmed. What are your thoughts on the World No.3’s prospects in Rome? Let us know in the comments below.
The post Coco Gauff’s ‘Statement Win’ Over Iga Swiatek in Madrid Leaves Ex-Pro Questioning Their Rivalry’s Power Shift appeared first on EssentiallySports.
