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Iga Swiatek's hopes of defending her title at the 2025 Madrid Open came to an end with a semifinal loss on Thursday, May 1. The Pole suffered a 1-6, 1-6 defeat at the hands of fourth seed Coco Gauff. The American displayed some of her best tennis on the clay court of the Manolo Santana stadium.
Swiatek, who broke down in tears after the loss, received an encouraging note from Casper Ruud. He supported the five-time Grand Slam champion by reminding her that she is an "inspiration to many."
"Hey, Iga Swiatek. Keep your head up. Like millions of other people, I love watching you play. Not your day today, but you inspire so many, and you’ll be back stronger than ever!!" Casper Ruud wrote on X.
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Ruud will be gearing up for his semifinal encounter with Francisco Cerundolo in a bid for the 2025 Madrid Open title. The Norwegian's support of his peer on the platform caught Boris Becker's attention. He praised Ruud by reacting to the note:
"Well said Casper."
Iga Swiatek has yet to win a title in her 2025 season. This was the World No. 2's fourth semifinal finish this year. The other semifinal appearances include the Australian Open, Qatar Open, and the Indian Wells Open.
Iga Swiatek made honest admissions after SF loss to Coco Gauff at Madrid Open
Iga Swiatek suffered a straight-set loss to Coco Gauff in the semifinals of the 2025 Madrid Open. The four-time French Open champion was competing without a coach and had an emotional outburst after the match.
After Gauff hit the winning shot, the Pole went to her chair and threw a towel over her head before wiping her tears and taking deep breaths to calm herself. She was composed in the post-match press conference, where she critically assessed her performance.
"I couldn't really get my level up. Coco played good, but, yeah, I think it's, you know, on me that I didn't really move well, I wasn't ready to play back the shots with heaviness, and, yeah, with that kind of game like, yeah, it was pretty bad,” she said.
She also laid out the challenges she faced on-court and added that "nothing worked" in her favor that day.
"For sure I feel like I haven't been moving well and, you know, the tennis also was like on and off, you know, for most of the tournament. So I wasn't really sure what I have in my tool box, you know, but yeah, for sure, like I didn't even have a plan B because nothing was working today," she added.
Gauff will face Aryna Sabalenka in the summit clash on Saturday, May 3. Sabalenka will be looking for her third, while Gauff will eye her maiden Madrid Open title.
