By CNN
—
Iga Świątek marched into her fourth French Open final with an impressive 6-2 6-4 victory against American Coco Gauff on Thursday.
The Polish star will be the strong favorite to win her fifth grand slam title this weekend having extended her winning run to 18 matches in all competitions and 20 at Roland Garros. Against Gauff, Świątek has now been victorious in 11 of their past 12 meetings.
In Saturday’s final, Świątek could win a third straight French Open title when she faces Italy’s Jasmine Paolini – a feat no woman has achieved since Justine Henin in 2007.
“For sure, it was intense,” the 23-year-old said in her on-court interview after defeating Gauff. “In the second set it was kind of tight because we were breaking each other. I’m happy that I was consistent with my tactics, didn’t overthink stuff and just went for it at the end.”
Having dropped only two games across her last two matches, Świątek was predictably pushed harder against Gauff in a repeat of the 2022 French Open final, but remained in control for large periods of the one-hour, 37-minute contest on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The world No. 1 broke her opponent in the opening game and then again at 3-1 to take a commanding lead in the first set, which she wrapped up soon after when Gauff put a forehand return into the net.
In a highly-charged moment in the second set, Gauff became visibly emotional as she argued with the chair umpire over a call before breaking Świątek’s serve several points later for a 3-1 lead.
The defending champion responded well, however, winning the next four games in a row to take a 5-3 advantage, and from there victory was within her grasp.
Gauff continued to battle hard, saving three match points across the next two games, but was unable to find a way back into the semifinal as a stray forehand handed Świątek the win.
In Thursday’s other semifinal, Paolini defeated Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva 6-3 6-1 to book a place in her first grand slam final.
The 12th seed – who, like Andreeva, was appearing in the final four of a major for the first time – is the first Italian woman to reach the final of a grand slam since Roberta Vinci at the 2015 US Open, according to Opta.
