Poland’s Iga Swiatek plays a shot against Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their semifinal match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Thursday, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus).
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Iga Swiatek will have the chance to win a third straight French Open title on Saturday after a brilliant performance saw her overpower Coco Gauff in straight sets in the semi-finals.
Three-time Roland Garros champion Swiatek only dropped one set en route to the final four – in a three-sets victory over Naomi Osaka in the second round – and she looked a cut above once again on Thursday in a 6-2, 6-4 win.
Having won 10 of her previous 11 meetings with Gauff, Swiatek set the tone by breaking in the very first game, Gauff looking tense as she committed two unforced errors.
Swiatek was forced to save break point with a monster serve but that was as close as Gauff came in the opener, the American committing 18 unforced errors to her opponent’s five.
Gauff improved at the start of the second set, but she was unable to match Swiatek’s power and accuracy in the longer rallies and her frustration got the better of her in the third game, briefly breaking down in tears after a row with the umpire over an overruled out call.
She recovered to go a break up thanks to a whipped forehand, but Swiatek hit straight back to level things then inched ahead as an overhead smash brought another break.
She failed to convert two match points in a back-and-forth game on Gauff’s serve but that was just a temporary setback as Gauff sent a wild forehand wide on her fourth match point.
Swiatek’s victory moved her to 8-2 versus top-10 seeds at grand slams. In the last 40 years, Martina Navratilova is the only other woman to manage eight wins in her first 10 such matches.
She will now be the heavy favourite when she faces Mirra Andreeva or Jasmine Paolini in the final.
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