Iga Swiatek reaches the final of French Open 2022
Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak to 34 matches as she reached the French Open final and extended by beating Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday.
Their semifinal was even at 2-all after 20 minutes, before Swiatek seized control with a five-game run. After Kasatkina picked up one game, Swiatek took the last five.
The world no. 1 ended the match with 22 winners, more than twice as many as Kasatkina's 10.
In Saturday's final, Swiatek will face either 18-year-old American Coco Gauff.
The 18th-seeded Gauff is the youngest finalist at the clay-court major tournament since 2001, when Kim Clijsters was the runner-up a day after her 18th birthday.
The 21-year-old Swiatek is bidding for her second Grand Slam trophy after 2020.
Swiatek has won her past five tournaments, last losing in February, against 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. The only Polish player to win a major singles title in tennis is now on a winning streak that equals the one Serena Williams had in 2013. The only longer runs this century was a 35-match unbeaten stretch by Venus Williams in 2000.
After winning her quarterfinal, Kasatkina was asked whether she felt better about challenging Swiatek on clay.
“Well, she's good on hard court, she's good on clay, so it doesn't matter. But I think for me it's better to face her on clay. I have now (had) a good run on clay, so I feel good here,” Kasatkina replied.
Kasatkina, a Russian who will not be allowed to enter Wimbledon because of her country's invasion of Ukraine, had not dropped a set at the French Open until Thursday.
But Swiatek has now won her past 13 contests against foes in the top 20 in the WTA rankings, conceding merely one set along the way.
The men's semifinals are Friday, with 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal against No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev, and 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic against No. 8 Casper Ruud.
(Inputs from PTI)
