Madrid (Spain) – Despite a small falter in the first set, world number 3 Coco Gauff achieved a strong victory to advance to the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 in Madrid. She defeated Russian Dayana Yastremska, semi-finalist at this year’s Australian Open, with scores of 6/4 and 6/1.
Her opponent will now be compatriot Madison Keys, who also had no great difficulty overcoming Russian Liudmila Samsonova, no less than 17th in the rankings, with an equally elastic score and splits of 6/2 and 6/3.
Gauff repeats his 2022 campaign on the fast clay of Caixa Mágica and tries for the first time to reach the quarterfinals in Madrid. The US Open champion already has 29 victories in 1000-level tournaments since the start of the 2023 season, a number surpassed only by Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina.
Among Gauff’s good motivations is the fight for number 2 in the ranking. In addition to needing a relevant campaign, he needs to hope for inferior results from Rybakina and current champion Aryna Sabalenka.
Keys in turn wins her first victory over a top 20 of the season. Samsonova had eliminated Naomi Osaka in the second round, ending a run of four defeats since Dubai. The American hadn’t won a match in Madrid since 2016, recording five consecutive falls.
In direct confrontations, each won twice, with a draw in 2022 and also last year. None of the duels, however, took place on clay.
