Coco Gauff started the 2024 Madrid Open campaign with a crushing win over veteran Arantxa Rus, beating her 6-0, 6-0, the first such win in her career.
The American began her 2024 clay season last week at the WTA 500 event in Stuttgart and played some decent tennis before running into Marta Kostyuk. That was not a good match for Gauff, as old problems arose, such as the forehand, which was very unreliable.
She didn't have these problems in the first-round match in Madrid against a player who can be quite tricky to play against. Rus plays attacking tennis and hits the ball really hard.
Nothing in her game can surprise Gauff, though, as the American proved very ready for everything. The Dutch player simply struggled with the 20-year-old's court coverage and solid play from the baseline, which forced her into many errors.
The American is more susceptible to players like Rus in Madrid as the courts in the city play a bit faster than usual clay courts, but it didn't matter in this match.
She was just spectacular and destroyed her opponent in two very quick sets. Gauff lost only a handful of points on her serve in the opening set and didn't allow a single break point. That's quite unusual for the American, especially on clay, but it contributed to the result.
She was just too strong for the Dutch player, who didn't play well at all. She also didn't necessarily struggle with her serve, which makes Gauff's win even more impressive.
The second set finally brought some minor issues for Gauff on her serve, but she handled it pretty well by saving four break points early. From there, she was able to break Rus and set up a really painless conclusion to the match.
The final score was 6-0, 6-0 for Gauff, which is an impressive scoreline against anyone, especially Rus, who is a solid player known for her clay qualities.