Swiatek overwhelms Gauff to reach third straight French Open final

June 6, 2024 – 7:54 AM PDT

Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates winning her semi final match against Coco Gauff of the U.S. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Poland’s Iga Swiatek celebrates winning her semi final match against Coco Gauff of the U.S. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

PARIS (Reuters) – Defending champion Iga Swiatek took a big step towards a third successive French Open title by dismantling teary American third seed Coco Gauff 6-2 6-4 in the semi-final on Thursday to match her longest winning streak on clay.

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Four-times Grand Slam champion Swiatek also extended her dominance over Gauff by sealing an 11th victory in 12 meetings and will head into a Saturday showdown with either 12th seed Jasmine Paolini or 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva.

Swiatek drew first blood by breaking in the opening game of the contest after a forehand error by the ultra aggressive Gauff and the top-seeded Pole fought off break points in her next two service games before tightening her grip.

Having dropped the first set following an error, Gauff wiped away tears while up 2-1 in the second after an argument with the umpire over a contentious line call, but the U.S. Open champion recovered to break her opponent for the first time.

However, Swiatek struck back immediately before holding and breaking to surge to a 4-3 lead with a powerful winner as a 20th straight victory at Roland Garros appeared in sight for the 23-year-old at her favourite hunting ground.

Soaking up the applause at a sun-drenched Court Philippe-Chatrier, Madrid and Rome champion Swiatek secured victory on serve and equalled her 18-match winning streak on the sport’s slowest surface between Stuttgart and Warsaw in 2022.

Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris Editing by Christian Radnedge

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