by Vincent Daheron
PARIS (Reuters) – World number one Iga Swiatek will play the Roland-Garros final for the third consecutive year after her victory in the semi-finals on Thursday against world third Coco Gauff (6-2, 6-4 in 1h36 ).
To win a fourth coronation on Parisian clay and a third in a row, she will have to beat the Italian Jasmine Paolini, qualified for her first Grand Slam final thanks to her success over the Russian Mirra Andreeva (6-3, 6-1 in 1h13).
“We played against each other a long time ago, I have to prepare tactically, and see what his game is like today,” Iga Swiatek said at a press conference. “What is certain is that this is his best season yet.”
In search of a fifth Grand Slam title on Saturday, the 23-year-old Pole quickly won the first set before winning five of the last six games in the second despite a break behind.
“It was intense. In the second set, we both broke but I’m happy to have kept my tactics,” she declared on court after her success.
Defeated for the third year in a row at Roland-Garros by Iga Swiatek, including the 2022 final, Coco Gauff was pushed into error (39 unforced errors) by the aggressiveness of her opponent.
“I made some mistakes on short balls. For the most part I had the right idea but I just made too many mistakes,” she admitted at a press conference.
The 20-year-old American, victorious at the 2023 US Open, lost her eleventh meeting in twelve confrontations against her rival. At the start of the second set, she let out a few tears after challenging a chair umpire’s decision.
“I was overwhelmed by it all. When you play against her, every point counts. Usually I don’t get too frustrated with decisions but it was an accumulation of everything that was happening at that moment,” said explained Coco Gauff.
Apart from a scare in the second round against the Japanese Naomi Osaka (7-6, 1-6, 7-5), where she won despite a match point against her, Iga Swiatek spent only 40 minutes on the short in the round of 16 to eliminate Anastasia Potapova (6-0, 6-0) then 1h02 in the quarterfinals to dismiss Marketa Vondrousova (6-0, 6-2).
Victorious in the Madrid and Rome tournaments in preparation, she won her 18th match in a row on clay and can succeed the Belgian Justine Henin, the last player to have won three consecutive Roland-Garros (2005, 2006 and 2007).
In the second semi-final, Jasmine Paolini used her experience (28 years old) to dominate Mirra Andreeva (17 years old), the youngest semi-finalist in a Grand Slam since Martina Hingis at the 1997 US Open.
“I’m really happy. It’s a fantastic feeling to be in the final of a Grand Slam,” she said at a press conference. “I don’t know, it seems impossible to me but it’s reality. So I’m really happy.”
The world number 15 won in straight sets to become the third Italian in the Open era (1968) to reach the Roland-Garros final – after Francesca Schiavone (victorious in 2010, finalist in 2011) and Sara Errani (finalist in 2012) – and the first Grand Slam since Flavia Pennetta’s victory at the 2015 US Open against her compatriot Roberta Vinci.
“I looked at the other Italians and those who won the Grand Slams. But putting myself in that place was difficult,” continued the woman from Tuscany. “I wanted it. But it’s something totally crazy. I’m happy and surprised at the same time.”
Thanks to her career, Jasmine Paolini will be “at worst” 7th in the world at the end of the tournament, her best career WTA ranking.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron, editing by Sophie Louet)
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