By Julien Pretot
PARIS (Reuters) – Cracks have appeared in Iga Swiatek’s armour in her last two French Open matches, but it is still hard to see past the Polish world number one as the hot favourite at Roland Garros as she gears up for her semi-final in Paris.
The 21-year-old Swiatek has won 33 games in a row and should she see off Russian Daria Kasatkina on Thursday she will match Serena Williams’s winning run from 2013.
The 2020 champion, looking to become only the fourth woman to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup more than once since 2000 – after Serena Williams, Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova – has dropped one set and showed some early nerves in the quarter-finals.
But she appears to be in another league tennis-wise, and Kasaktina, who has a powerful forehand and a strong baseline game, will need to be mentally tough and find a way other than through groundstrokes to throw the Pole off course.
Kasatkina, 25, will be playing in her first major semi-finals and seems to like her chances despite having lost all three of her matches against Swiatek this year in straight sets.
“We played few times this year, but I mean OK, I lost those matches, but that was a different story. It was a hard court, beginning of the year, I was not in the same shape as I am now,” she said.
“So I cannot compare what we are going to have tomorrow and what we had in February, March when we were playing. So it’s going to be a completely different match.”
One thing is certain: Kasatkina will need to be ready from the first point.
“I kind of want to start from the beginning and maybe take advantage of what I know about her game,” said Swiatek.
“The main key for me is to just play my tennis and play aggressively and try to dominate from the beginning.”
In the other semi-final, American 18th seed Coco Gauff, who has been maturing into a solid claycourt player, faces Italian Martina Trevisan.
Gauff, 18, was stopped by eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova in the quarter-finals last year and she is taking a different approach this time.
“I feel like last year I was looking at the finish line, and now I’m not looking at anything really except that ball in front of me,” Gauff said.
“So I think to be honest, going into the next match I’m just going to approach it the same. I mean, I care about the results, yes, but also at the same time I don’t. Like if I gave it my all I’m not going to be upset.”
The unseeded Trevisan made it to the quarter-finals in 2020, where she lost to Swiatek, and she will now look to emulate her fellow Italians Francesca Schiavone and Sara Errani, finalists in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Schiavone won the title in 2010.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
