Coco GAUFF glides past Dayana YASTREMSKA, sets stage for showdown with Keys at Madrid Open

Coco Gauff (No. 3) secured a comfortable victory over Dayana Yastremska (No. 34) with a score of 6-4, 6-1, advancing to the round of 16 at the Madrid Open, where she will face her compatriot, the 18th seed Madison Keys.

The 20-year-old tennis player, coming off an incredible double bagel win against Arantxa Rus in the opening match (6-0, 6-0), started the first set against Yastremska with another impeccable streak of consecutive games, taking a 5-0 lead within minutes of the match and even had a set point in her favor to secure another bagel, but the Ukrainian recovered and managed to hold her serve for the first time.

Gauff won 17 consecutive games in Madrid before conceding her first game. Yastremska seized the momentum and won four consecutive games, including two breaks in her favor, while saving four set points against her.

Yastremska narrowed the score from 0-5 to 4-5 and had her service game to level the set; however, Gauff capitalized on a single break opportunity in the game and ultimately took the set after Yastremska made an unforced error that ended up in the net.

In the second set, Gauff once again embarked on a streak of consecutive games, taking advantage of her good morale and several consecutive errors from her opponent. The 2023 US Open champion was up 4-0, and although she conceded a service game, it was not enough for Yastremska to have chances again in the match. This time, Gauff was not as flexible as in the first set and ultimately closed out the match on her first match point with a score of 6-4, 6-1.

Throughout the match, Gauff had only a 52% first-serve percentage, although she won 82% of them, unlike Yastremska, who had a 63% first-serve percentage but only won 48% of them, exposed to Gauff's good returns.

The American advanced to the fourth round in Madrid and will face Madison Keys for a spot in the quarterfinals. The head-to-head record between them is currently 2-2, although they have never faced each other on clay. Keys comes from comfortably defeating the 15th seed Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 6-3.