Coco Gauff routs Iga Swiatek to reach Madrid final against No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka

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.

Gauff will face top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-5 to reach the Madrid final for the fourth time in her career.

It was Gauff's first win over Swiatek on clay.

“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.

“I couldn’t really get my level up,” the four-time French Open champion said. “Coco played good, but I think it’s on me that I didn’t really move well, I wasn’t ready to play back the shots with heaviness, and with that kind of game. It was pretty bad.”

The last time Swiatek won only two or fewer games in a match — on any surface — was a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Birmingham in 2019.

“For me," Gauff added, “it was just making sure my level stayed the same. In the second, I raised it.”

Sabalenka returned to the final after ending Svitolina's unbeaten run on clay this year — she was 9-0 on the surface in 2025, without losing a set.

Sabalenka won the title in Madrid in 2021 and 2023, and was runner-up to Swiatek last year.

Gauff is 5-4 against Sabalenka and won their only prior meeting on clay, in Rome in 2021. The American also won their most recent meeting, at the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh.

By beating Svitolina, Sabalenka became the first player to obtain 30 main-draw wins at WTA events in 2025.

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.

In another quarterfinal, fifth-ranked Jack Draper defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-0, 6-4. Arnaldi had beaten Novak Djokovic in the second round. Draper will enter the top 5 in the rankings for the first time thanks to his run in Madrid. He will face 10th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti, who beat Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-3.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, returns the ball against Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, returns the ball against Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, serves against Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Iga Swiatek of Poland reacts during her match against United States' Coco Gauff during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

United States' Coco Gauff serves against Iga Swiatek of Poland during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Casper Ruud of Norway, left, shakes hands after winning against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Casper Ruud of Norway celebrates after winning against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Casper Ruud of Norway returns the ball against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Casper Ruud of Norway returns the ball against against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Russia's Daniil Medvedev returns the ball against Casper Ruud of Norway during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Iga Swiatek of Poland leaves the court after losing against United States' Coco Gauff during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

United States' Coco Gauff returns the ball to Iga Swiatek of Poland during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

United States' Coco Gauff returns the ball against Iga Swiatek of Poland during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)