Third-seeded Coco Gauff almost let the first set slip away to No. 31 Dayana Yastremska before getting back to form and shutting down the Ukrainian 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday to advance to the Round of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open.
Gauff started the first set on a high note, winning the first five games to bring her consecutive-game winning streak to 17. But when Gauff started to falter, Yastremska took advantage, climbing to get back on serve at 5-4 before errors allowed Gauff back in it.
“It was tough playing, honestly, because she was missing a lot,” Gauff said post-match. “When she started making balls, it was hard to find the rhythm because I hadn’t had any. So I was trying to find the difference between trying to be aggressive and letting the errors come.”
After finishing out the first set 6-4, Gauff took command in the second with a decisive 6-1 win to finish the match in an hour and 17 minutes.
Gauff will next face fellow American No. 18 seeded Madison Keys, who defeated No. 15 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia 6-2, 6-3.
No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland continued her defense of the title with another smooth win, this time with a 6-1, 6-1 defeat of No. 27 Sorana Cirstea of Romania.
The win puts Swiatek’s season record at 26-4 and brings her streak to 16 wins on clay against opponents ranked outside the WTA’s Top 20.
The drizzly weather made for uncertain conditions, with players unsure as late as 15 minutes before the match whether the roof would be open or closed. Ultimately, the roof was closed for Swiatek’s match.
“I was ready for both scenarios,” Swiatek said post-match, “but for sure it felt a little bit like Roland Garros 2020 because of the weather today, and I knew that I can play well in these conditions.”
Swiatek’s next opponent will be No. 55 Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain, who beat 23 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-6 (0), 6-3 in a physical marathon of a match that lasted two hours and 50 minutes despite the straight-sets win.
No. 8 seed Ons Jabeur also needed a lot of time to earn her win, the first time this year the Tunisian has won back-to-back matches. She needed two hours and 24 minutes to fight her way back from being down 4-2 in the third set to winning 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 against the No. 32 seed, Canadian Leylah Fernandez.
Other winners on Saturday included No. 9 seed Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, who beat Argentine qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle 6-3, 6-3, and No. 5 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece, who made easy work of American Sloane Stephens 6-1, 6-3, who had won seven straight matches prior to Saturday’s loss.
No. 11 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil outlasted No. 19 seed Emma Navarro 6-4, 6-4.
–Field Level Media
