'Everything collapsed' - Iga Swiatek reacts to 'pretty bad' defeat to Coco Gauff at Madrid Open

World No. 2 Iga Swiatek described her crushing defeat to American Coco Gauff as "pretty bad" after failing to defend her Madrid Open title. "Everything collapsed," she admitted, after Gauff marched on to face top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final on Saturday. Swiatek will be keen to find some form in the coming weeks ahead of the prestigious French Open at Roland-Garros this month.

Iga Swiatek, Madrid 2025

Image credit: Getty Images

Iga Swiatek admitted "everything collapsed" during a thumping defeat to American Coco Gauff in the Madrid Open semi-final.

The Pole, who was defending her title, was beaten 6-1 6-1 in just 64 minutes on Thursday - one of the worst losses of her career.

It adds to a difficult clay season so far for the five-time major winner, who lost in the Stuttgart Open quarter-finals to Jelena Ostapenko.

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She also faced a scare in the quarter-finals in Madrid, losing the first set 6-0 to Madison Keys before fighting back to set up the last-four tie against Gauff.

"I couldn’t really get my level up," she said.

"Coco played good, but, yeah, I think it’s on me that I didn’t really move well, I wasn’t ready to play back the shots with heaviness. With that kind of game, it was pretty bad.

"Today for sure, everything kind of collapsed, both tennis-wise and I feel like I wasn’t even in the right place with my feet before the shots.

"I wish I would have moved better, because I think that would get me any opportunity to bounce back, because this is usually what happens."

It was a resounding victory for Gauff, who reached the final and has now recorded three straight victories over Swiatek.

Speaking during her on-court interview after the match, the American cited her mentality as one of the key factors for winning.

"I was aggressive and played with margin. Maybe it wasn’t her best level," said Gauff.

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

Gauff, 21, will play world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final on Saturday.

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Pressure now mounts on Swiatek to defend her prestigious French Open title at Roland-Garros, where she has been successful for the past three years running.

The French Open, one of the highlights of the tennis calendar, gets underway on Sunday 25 May and will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Quarter-final and semi-final defeats are far from ideal preparation for Swiatek, but the world No. 2 will have another chance to find form before Roland-Garros when she competes next week at the Italian Open, where she is also defending champion.

Qualifying at the iconic Foro Italico gets underway on Monday, with the first round beginning on Wednesday.

Watch and stream the 2025 French Open on TNT Sports and discovery+

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