Coco Gauff is under pressure to back up last year’s results this clay season, but she’s made a strong start at the Madrid Open.

Gauff took care of her first-round match with a straight-sets win over Leolia Jeanjean, 6-3, 6-0.

She reached the final in both Madrid and Rome last year before winning Roland Garros, meaning she’s holding 3,300 WTA points between those three events heading into the 2026 campaign.

The American has always been solid on clay, and statistically, it’s her strongest surface. She holds a career win percentage of 74% on clay compared to 71% on hard courts and just 67% on grass.

After her first-round win in Madrid, fellow American Coco Vandeweghe broke down why Gauff is such a force on clay.

Vandeweghe breaks down what makes Gauff stand out on clay

Chatting with Tennis Channel, Vandeweghe said: “She does everything well on the clay courts that you need to do well.

“You need to be able to move well and be able to transition out of the corners. Coco does that fantastically.

“It also doesn’t put as much pressure on her serve because she’s able to defend it that much better when it gets into a lot of second serve looks, and it makes the bounces really jump for Coco, which can help her forehand and off the ground.

“So everything that gets a little bit weaker when we get to the faster surface becomes her strength when we get to the clay courts.

“We’ve seen in years past that she does get better as the season goes on. She hasn’t really ever started too well when it comes to Australian Open and then heading into the American swing of Indian Wells and Miami.

“I think Coco definitely needs to take a little bit of a breath and of course being that she’s a Grand Slam champion twice and defending champion at Roland Garros, it’s going to be win or it’s a fail in her mind because she’s won it before.”

Who does Coco Gauff face next at the 2026 Madrid Open?

Gauff’s next opponent will be Sorana Cirstea, who moved into the third round after beating Lucia Bronzetti. The two players have met twice before, with Gauff winning both times.

Their first meeting came at the 2020 Australian Open, where Gauff had to rally from a set down. They faced off again earlier this year at the Miami Open, where Cirstea pushed Gauff to three sets before falling short.

This upcoming match will be their first on clay, a surface that suits both players well. While Gauff has become a Grand Slam champion on clay, Cirstea also prefers it and holds a career win percentage of 57% on the surface compared to 53% overall.

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