World No 1 Iga Swiatek has stamped her authority on the French Open, where she has not lost a match since 2021, by storming through her past 3 matches in barely 3 hours, including a ruthless defeat of Coco Gauff in Thursday’s semi-final.
On the verge of a 4th Roland Garros title, which would become her 5th major title, Swiatek took down the 20-year old American, 6-2 6-4, for the 11th time in their 12 meetings.
“As always, she played at a tough level,” admitted Gauff. “She’s a tough matchup for me, obviously. I think the numbers answer that question.”
It took the 23-year old Pole an hour and 37 minutes to see off Gauff, who will rise to World No 2 on Monday, unseating Aryna Sabalenka, who fell in the quarter-finals.
Under bright skies on Court Philippe Chatrier, Swiatek’s determination was clear.“I think most of the things, overall, in my game worked today, so I’m proud of myself,” Swiatek said after her latest win.
To land her 3rd successive French Open title, Swiatek will have to beat first-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini on Saturday, after the No 12 seed from Italy ousted 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, a precocious Russian, 6-3 6-1, in Thursday’s second semi-final.
Swiatek has a 2-0 head-to-head lead over Paolini, winning their first meeting at an ITF Challenger event in Prague, on clay, 6-2 6-1, and then beating her, 6-3 6-0, in the 1st round of the 2022 US Open, an event Swiatek went on to win, for her lone Grand Slam title outside of Paris to date.
Against Gauff, Swiatek produced one of her more gentle of performances as the 2-time defending champion extended her run to 20 consecutive match wins at Roland Garros.
