WORLD No.1 Iga Swiatek reached the French Open final for the second time in three years with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 win over 20th seed Daria Kasatkina in Paris yesterday.
In warm sunshine, the 2020 champion was tested early on but pulled away from the middle of the first set and clinched a convincing victory after 64 minutes.
It was her 34th straight victory, the joint-second longest streak on the WTA tour since 2000, one behind Venus Williams.
The Pole, who is now 20-2 at Roland-Garros, will play American Coco Gauff, who defeated Italy’s Martina Trevisan.
Swiatek had beaten Kasatkina handily in each of their three meetings earlier in 2022 but Kasatkina said she hoped it would not count for much, since she was recovering from Covid-19 at the time.
Swiatek began strongly with a good hold and then immediately put pressure on the Kasatkina serve.
Kasatkina, who had not dropped a set en route to the semi-final, saved three break points, one with an ace and another with a drop volley, but a backhand in the net gave Swiatek the break for 2-0. However, the No.20 seed was mixing up her game cleverly, trying not to give Swiatek the same shot twice and she broke back.
Meanwhile, Gauff is one step away from realising a teenage dream in Paris, surging home on Court Philippe-Chatrier to advance to her maiden Grand Slam final today.
The 18th seed denied Italian Martina Trevisan to become the first woman since Kim Clijsters in 2001 to reach the final of Roland-Garros.
Yet to drop a set in just her third Paris campaign, the 18-year-old defied early nerves to avenge a defeat to her 2020 conqueror, 6-3, 6-1, and set a final showdown with world No.1 Iga Swiatek.
The Italian provided one of the most heart-warming stories of Roland-Garros two years ago when as a 139th-ranked qualifier she reached the quarter-finals before eventual champion Swiatek ended her breakout spell.
Trevisan denied Gauff in the second round of that run and added seeded victims Maria Sakkari and Kiki Bertens to her list.
The 28-year-old Florentine had rediscovered some of that form as she entered her first Grand Slam semi-final on a 10-match winning streak, following a maiden title in Rabat.
Gauff’s focus had narrowed since a first major quarter-final in Paris a year ago.
It never shifted beyond winning the next match rather than going all the way these days.
It had served her well through five previous rounds and did so again.
Gauff made a more nervous start as she netted a volley and made a poor drop-shot attempt before salvaging her opening service game.
Two double faults and a wild forehand hooked wide cost Trevisan an early break but with her opponent somewhat rattled by a line-call disagreement, she could not consolidate.
The Italian lefty was not overawed and pegged back the break each time.
But after five successive games in which neither could hold, Gauff finally bucked the trend.
Momentum was tough to secure but had ultimately shifted when Trevisan’s 22nd unforced error surrendered her fourth straight break and with it, the opening set after 44 minutes.
After eight and a half hours on court since the start of the tournament – 90 minutes more than her younger rival – Trevisan called for the trainer to treat her upper right leg.
rolandgarros.com
