Coco Gauff demolishes Iga Swiatek to reach Madrid Open final

Reigning champion Swiatek failed to show her powers of recovery as Gauff cruised into the final

Coco Gauff overpowered defending champion Iga Swiatek in an emphatic straight-sets victory to reach the Madrid Open singles final for the first time.

Gauff broke Swiatek's serve three times in the first set and twice in the second to cruise to a 64-minute 6-1, 6-1 semi-final triumph second-seed Swiatek in the Spanish capital.

American star Gauff will play world number one Aryna Sabalenka or Elina Svitolina in the final.

"The mentality that I had in the whole match was aggressive," the fourth-ranked Gauff said. "Maybe it wasn't her best level today, but I think I forced her into some awkward positions.

"I felt great out here on the court today, much different to my first match here in the first round.

"I think the previous times we played on clay I don't think I had a win against her yet.

"Obviously on clay she's a different player, but clay is one of my better surfaces too, and I thought if I can beat her on hard I can beat her on clay."

Reigning Madrid Open champion Swiatek had shown off her powers of recovery against Madison Keys on Wednesday, coming back from losing the first set 0-6 to progress to the last four.

But having won nine consecutive matches in Madrid, she had no answer to Gauff who outclassed her on the clay.

The Madrid Open was plunged into chaos on Monday due to the major power outage that brought Spain and Portugal to a standstill. More than 20 matches had to be postponed at the Caja Magica, creating a packed schedule the rest of the week.

Additional reporting by AP.