Marketa Vondrousova landed another huge scalp in the form of Elina Svitolina to book her place in the gold medal match at Tokyo 2020 against Belinda Bencic.
It has been a memorable week for Vondrousova, who knocked out cauldron-lighter and "face of the games" Naomi Osaka in round three.
One more hurdle still stands in her way in the form of ninth seed Bencic, who fought hard for a three-set triumph over Elena Rybakina.
VONDROUSOVA MARVELS AGAIN
Vondrousova has had a Games to remember and she was a 6-3 6-1 winner against heavily fancied fourth seed Svitolina, becoming the first female Czech to reach an Olympic singles final in the process.
It means the Czech Republic will have a women's singles competitor on the podium for the second straight Games after Petra Kvitova finished with bronze at Rio 2016.
Incredibly, Vondrousova did not even automatically qualify for these Games with Karolina Pliskova, Barbora Krejcikova, Kvitova and Karolina Muchova ahead of her in the qualifying pecking order.
Vondrousova opted to use her protected ranking, dating back to a wrist injury prior to the pandemic, meaning Muchova missed out. Though criticised at the time, she is the last of the four remaining.
TEARS FOR BENCIC
Switzerland has a proud history of tennis stars but neither the legendary Roger Federer nor the great Martina Hingis have won Olympic gold in a singles event. Bencic has the chance to do that, though.
She had to go the distance against Rybakina in a 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-3 victory, with Bencic fighting back from 5-2 down in the first set.
Eventually Bencic came through in two hours and 44 minutes and the tears poured as she made the final.
"My emotions right now... it's too high," Bencic told the ITF website. "To have a medal, it's the greatest thing. Even to be here as an athlete, in the Olympics, it's amazing."
It means Switzerland will medal for the fourth straight Games with Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Hingis and the recently retired Timea Bacsinszky all having medalled.
The last Swiss gold medallist was at Barcelona 1992 where Marc Rosset won the men's singles.
Elsewhere, singles world number one Ash Barty remains in the hunt for mixed doubles gold. She and partner John Peers defeated Greek pair Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari – winning on a 10-point tie-break after the first two sets were shared.
World number one Swiatek sees off Xiyu in Madrid opener
World number one Iga Swiatek overcame Wang Xiyu with the minimum of fuss on Thursday to progress to the third round of the Madrid Open.
Swiatek has yet to win the title in Madrid, which is the only clay-court European event at which the Pole has not triumphed, but she got off to a flying start with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Xiyu.
"I love this place. I got to know the city a little better last year," Swiatek said. "So this time I feel more comfortable around."
Next up for the 22-year-old is a third-round tie against 27th seed Sorana Cirstea on Saturday.
Data Debrief
Swiatek has registered 150 match wins on the WTA Tour since the start of 2022. Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff are the next best with 108 wins each.
She also became the first player born this century to claim 50 combined match wins in Madrid, Rome and Roland-Garros, since the inaugural women's singles event at the Madrid Open in 2009.
Dominant Gauff double bagels Rus at Madrid Open
Coco Gauff made a flying start to her Madrid Open campaign on Thursday, recording the first double bagel main-draw win of her career as she cruised past Arantxa Rus to reach the round of 32.
Gauff needed just 51 minutes to see off 33-year-old Rus as she booked a meeting with Ukraine's Dayana Yamstremska for Saturday.
The US Open champion lost just 18 points throughout the match – eight in the opener and 10 in the second set – as she put any doubts over her recent form to bed in emphatic fashion.
Gauff's power proved too much for Rus in the opener, the third seed winning 88 per cent of points behind her first serve and converting three of four break points to go a set up in just 23 minutes.
Rus brought up four break points midway through the second set, but when she failed to convert them, Gauff punished her in ruthless fashion by reeling off another three games then finishing things with a terrific forehand winner.
Speaking after her win, the American said: "I played really well today. It was just one of those days for me… 6-0 6-0, I've never done that before, I'll probably never do it again."
Data Debrief: Gauff matches Azarenka, Halep feat
Gauff is just the third player to register a 6-0 6-0 win in the women's singles draw at the Madrid Open, following in the footsteps of two former world number ones in Victoria Azarenka and Simona Halep.
The American, who only turned 20 last month, is also the youngest player to double bagel an opponent in any main-draw match on the WTA Tour since Iga Swiatek did so against Karolina Pliskova in the 2021 Italian Open final in Rome.
Nadal cruises past teen Blanch to tee up De Minaur rematch in Madrid
Darwin Blanch presented little challenge for Rafael Nadal, who dropped just one game in a convincing 6-1 6-0 triumph at the Madrid Open.
Nadal is feeling his way back to fitness, but 16-year-old qualifier Blanch offered little resistance to the 22-time major champion on Thursday.
Making his farewell appearance at the Madrid Open, where he has won five titles, Nadal needed just 64 minutes to progress to round two.
"I think today I played against an opponent with a great future in front [of him], but today, still making mistakes," said Nadal.
"I just tried to be there, be solid all the time without taking a lot of risks. It worked well. I'm happy to be through and I wish him all the very best for the future."
Nadal's reward is a rematch with Alex de Minaur, who he lost to last week in Barcelona.
Data Debrief
This game saw the largest age gap (21 years, 117 days) between two opponents in the history of ATP Masters 1000 events.
Nadal has now registered 57 wins at the Madrid Open, which is 20 clear of any other player.
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