Coco Gauff overpowered defending champion Iga Swiatek 6-1, 6-1 to reach the Madrid Open singles final for the first time Thursday.

Gauff broke Swiatek’s serve three times in the first set and twice in the second to cruise to a 64-minute semifinal victory over the second-ranked Swiatek at the clay-court tournament.

It was Gauff’s first win over Swiatek on clay.

“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.”

Swiatek had recovered from losing the first set 0-6 to Madison Keys on Wednesday.

“I couldn’t really get my level up,” the four-time French Open champion said. “Coco played good, but I think it’s on me that I didn’t really move well, I wasn’t ready to play back the shots with heaviness, and with that kind of game. It was pretty bad.”

The last time Swiatek won only two or fewer games in a match — on any surface — was a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Birmingham in 2019.

“For me,” Gauff added, “it was just making sure my level stayed the same. In the second, I raised it.”

Gauff will face either top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka or Elina Svitolina in the final.

In the men’s quarterfinals, Casper Ruud advanced by defeating Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-5 to become the first player born in 1990 or later to reach 30 tour-level semifinals on clay.

The 15th-ranked Norwegian had been 0-3 against Medvedev in his career.

“I looked at our stats last night and saw he beat me on grass, outdoor hard and indoor hard. The last surface was clay so I thought, ‘please don’t make it 4-0,’” Ruud said. “I tried to use the surface to my advantage. I thought the level was pretty good from both players, I was impressed with Daniil’s ability to produce power here on clay.”

Ruud will next face Francisco Cerundolo, who rallied to defeat teenager Jakub Mensik 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Cerundolo had beaten top-seeded Alexander Zverev in the previous round.

In another quarterfinal, fifth-ranked Jack Draper defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-0, 6-4. Arnaldi had beaten Novak Djokovic in the second round.

The Madrid Open was disrupted on Monday because of the major blackout that brought Spain and Portugal to a standstill. More than 20 matches had to be postponed at the Caja Magica tennis complex, creating a packed schedule the rest of the week.

GOLF

Scottie Scheffler is happy to be back at his hometown event and showed it.

Cameron Champ isn’t far from familiar territory, either, which is a good thing considering he got the call that he was in the Byron Nelson as an alternate about 18 hours before his tee time Thursday in McKinney, Texas.

Scheffler made the turn in 29 on his way to a 10-under 61 for a two-shot lead over Rico Hoey and Jhonattan Vegas, with Champ among six players another shot back at 64.

Defending champion Taylor Pendrith shot 67 with players allowed to lift, clean and replace their shots in the fairways after the par-71 TPC Craig Ranch got heavy rainfall Wednesday.

The top-ranked Scheffler outshined fellow hometown star Jordan Spieth with the former Texas Longhorns paired together along with Si Woo Kim, a South Korean who also calls Dallas home and was showcased in an event sponsored by CJ Group, a conglomerate based in his home country.

Kim shot 67, capping his round with a lofty chip-in for eagle at the par-5 18th and rolling onto his back in celebration. Spieth is 2 under. Vegas, another Texas alum, had a bogey-free round along with Scheffler and Hoey.

The others at 7 under with Champ are Stephan Jaeger, Michael Thorbjornsen, Eric Cole, Andrew Putnam and Patton Kizzire.

Scheffler missed last year’s event in Dallas’ northern suburb of McKinney for the birth of his first child, son Bennett.

“Jordan and I love playing here. This tournament has meant a lot to us over the years,” Scheffler said. “Obviously, last year I was missing for some pretty good reasons. I wasn’t too sad about what was going on in my life at the time.”

Back then, he had 10 wins combined before May over a three-year stretch, including the Masters and Players Championship twice each. Now, Scheffler is still seeking the first victory of 2025.

Haeran Ryu and Ariya Jutanugarn didn’t waste time moving on from the disappointment of the first LPGA major behind them, both opening with bogey-free rounds Thursday for an ideal start in the inaugural Black Desert Championship in Ivins, Utah.

Ryu missed only one fairway, one green and took 27 putts in her round of 8-under 63, giving her a one-shot lead over Jutanugarn in the LPGA’s return to Utah for the first time in just over 60 years. Black Desert hosted a PGA Tour event last fall.

Ryu shared the 54-hole lead last week in the Chevron Championship when nothing went right for her the final round. Even with an eagle on the final hole, she shot 76 and missed the playoff by two shots.

“I’m not change something from my mind, because last week it was tough golf course and this week it’s tough, too,” Ryu said. “Just thinking more accuracy for my shot, and I think same as last week.”

Jutanugarn had a rougher finish. She needed par on the last hole to win when the Thai stubbed a chip behind the green and wound up making bogey. In the five-player playoff, Jutanugarn lipped out on a 7-foot birdie putt as Mao Saigo won.

“I would say when I got here I felt like the course is really tough because like it’s kind of new. It’s different, really unique, really beautiful,” Jutanugarn said. “But of course last week I didn’t finish the way I want, but it’s so many thing going on — like good things — and I just want to carry on from that and keep working as hard as I can.”

Jutanugarn, a former No. 1 player, has gone four years without winning.

NFL

Pittsburgh Steelers signed veteran wide receiver Robert Woods to a one-year deal on Thursday.

Woods, 33, has spent 12 years in the NFL, including the past two with the Houston Texans. Woods caught a career-low 20 passes for 203 yards in 15 games for the Texans last season.

Woods is joining a wide receiver group that includes two-time Pro Bowler DK Metcalf — acquired in a March trade with Seattle — and George Pickens, who is entering the final year of his rookie deal.

Woods has caught 683 passes for 8,233 yards and 38 touchdowns across his career and twice had more than 1,000 yards receiving.

The Buffalo Bills agreed to sign receiver Elijah Moore to a one-year contract potentially worth $5 million, a person with knowledge of the deal confirmed to The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the Bills have not announced the agreement first reported by ESPN.com.

Moore has four seasons of NFL experience including the past two with Cleveland where he combined for 120 catches for 1,178 yards and three touchdowns in 34 games.

The 25-year-old was selected by the Jets in the second round of the 2021 draft out of Mississippi. He had 80 catches for 984 yards and six TDs in 27 games with New York before being traded to Cleveland in March 2023.

Listed at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, Moore joins the Bills after general manager Brandon Beane received criticism for not addressing the receiver position until selecting Kaden Prather in the seventh round of the draft on Saturday.

COLLEGES

Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller is leaving the school and deputy athletic director Jennifer Smith and men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo will serve as co-interim ADs, university president Kevin Guskiewicz announced Thursday.

Haller’s last day will be May 11. Guskiewicz did not disclose the reason for Haller’s exit.

“I’m grateful for Alan’s leadership since I joined the university and appreciate the success our programs have seen under his leadership,” Guskiewicz said in a statement. “He is deeply committed to this university and has led with honesty and integrity.”

Guskiewicz said a national search would begin to find a successor to Haller, who was promoted from deputy athletic director in 2021.

Under Haller, the Spartans won Big Ten championships in men’s basketball, women’s soccer, women’s gymnastics, men’s hockey and women’s cross country, as well as postseason appearances for several programs.

BASKETBALL

Gordie Herbert played for Canada at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. And now he’s in position to coach Canada at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Canada Basketball brought Herbert — who coached Germany to a World Cup title in 2023 — home on Thursday, announcing that the British Columbia native will take over as its men’s national team coach in 2026. His first two major international events as Canada’s coach would be the 2027 World Cup in Qatar and the Olympics a year later.

Herbert is taking over for Brooklyn Nets coach Jordi Fernandez, who stepped down as Canada’s coach earlier this year after leading the country to a bronze medal at the 2023 World Cup and a fifth-place finish at last year’s Paris Olympics.

“I’m incredibly honored and excited for the opportunity to coach my home country,” Herbert said. “Canada Basketball has made tremendous progress in recent years, and the depth of talent in the program is as good as anywhere in the world.”