Jack Draper moved a step closer to a first career clay title as he crushed Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets to reach the semi-finals of the Madrid Open.Â
The British No 1 bageled his Italian counterpart in the opening set, and though Arnaldi showed a touch more fight and skill in the second, Draper claimed the crucial break in the fifth game on his way to an emphatic 6-0 6-4 win.
The victory, sealed in just 77 minutes, sets up a final-four clash with the winner of Lorenzo Musetti and Gabriel Diallo’s quarter-final matchup.
It also sees the 23-year-old leapfrog 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic into the No 5 spot in the ATP world rankings.
Gauff dismantles defending champion Swiatek
Coco Gauff stormed into the semi-finals of the Madrid Open, dropping only two games in a 6-1 6-1 dismantling of defending champion Iga Swiatek.
Gauff and Swiatek had met 14 times previously, with the head-to-head heavily in favour of the five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek at 11 wins to three, with Gauff never having beaten the Pole on clay.
But Swiatek’s frustration grew as Gauff stormed back from 0-1 down to win 11 games in a row and 12 of the last 13.
Swiatek looked rattled, her composure cracking as the match spiralled out of her reach and in a rare lapse of composure, she was hit with a code violation for an audible obscenity.
“I was aggressive and played with margin. Maybe it wasnt her best level,” Gauff said in her on-court interview after the comprehensive win.
The American will meet either Aryna Sabalenka or Elina Svitolina in the final.
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