She didn’t have it all her own way, but world no. 1 and defending French Open champion Iga Swiatek secured her passage into tomorrow’s semi-finals with a straight-sets win over Coco Gauff, in a rematch of last year’s final. She’ll play Brazilian record-breaker Beatriz Haddad Maia on Thursday, after the 27-year-old’s recovery result vs. two-time Major runner-up Ons Jabeur earlier in the day.
Swiatek sails back into familiar territory
Swiatek [1] bt. Gauff [7] 6-4, 6-2
- “It wasn’t easy, especially after a tight first set. I’m really happy to win because quarter-finals are sometimes the toughest matches… even though Coco is young, she’s very experienced. I’m pretty fresh, didn’t spend too much time on court – I’ll be ready no matter what,” Swiatek’s on-court interview, assessing the match and a quick turnaround up next
- Swiatek hit 12 forehand winners, Gauff only managed one – the teenage American’s forays to the net were well-intentioned but often punished and while improved from last year’s one-sided final, she faded drastically late in set two despite matching the world no. 1 for periods
- Result also means the #1 spot still up for grabs, as Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka remain on course for Saturday’s final after Australian Open champion won in straight-sets (6-4, 6-4) against Elina Svitolina yesterday
- Beatriz Haddad Maia becomes first Brazilian to reach Major semi-final since 1968 at Jabeur’s expense, while Swiatek’s bid to become first woman defending their title since Justine Henin (2007) remains intact
Unlike last year’s final, Coco Gauff started well enough to maintain equal footing with defending champion Iga Swiatek and showed flashes of the exciting fire within that the Philippe-Chatrier crowd were frustratingly deprived of twelve months ago.
There was one crosscourt winner in particular, turning defence into attack on the Pole’s serve, suggesting this would be far longer and less straightforward a contest as a shiny semi-final berth awaited the victor.
They exchanged breaks in consecutive games, the first set still up for grabs before Swiatek turned the screw and produced some fabulous returns to repeatedly force Gauff into uncomfortable positions.
Everyone knows how good the American teenager’s backhand is, but the forehand remains a weakness that can be exploited.
Couple that with an over-reliance on court coverage and defensive skills against a player who manipulates rally tempo so well, and it’s a recipe for a rough ride.
After breaking her to win set one 6-4, Swiatek quickly found herself in a spot of bother on serve at 1-1 and really ought to have lost the game.
She didn’t, and the tide began to turn: Gauff was 30-0 up and missed a routine pass at the net, before skewing two forehands long on subsequent points.
Incorporating the drop shot in opportune moments was a battle she tussled with, making no mistake approaching the net a second time around as Swiatek got an unintentional body shot for her troubles.
More forced errors spilled from her racquet as Swiatek’s powerful groundstrokes frequently pinned her on the back foot, though a quick service hold shortly afterwards was a brief confidence boost with the pendulum swinging across again.
Gauff had an inroads in the next service game but couldn’t execute with consistency, one great passing winner was followed by two jarring errors, then came a 0-30 situation to contend with herself after the match’s first double-fault.
An errant backhand gave Swiatek double break point, before Gauff found herself helpless as she scrambled to return a sliced lob and the lead grew further.
Despite meeting rally balls in good time, poor decision-making and shaky execution saw more miscues arrive as Gauff seemed resigned to a valiant defeat at this stage, now down 5-2 on the scoreboard and serving to stay in the match.
Another double-fault crept in at the worst moment possible to give Swiatek two match points, and another error into the net sealed the job in little under 90 minutes.
As Tim Henman showed on the Eurosport broadcast post-match, Swiatek had returned 92% of Gauff’s serves behind the service line.
It made her feel pressure immediately after firing off the first shot in most cases, whereas against most others, she’d have an opportunity to dictate.
At one stage, a graphic flashed on screen midway through set one showing the 19-year-old had only won 9/25 points (36%) during rallies under five shots.
It didn’t get much better, Swiatek neutralised her explosiveness in ways which made Gauff change tack too quickly and predictably to have true success. She problem-solved her way past Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, but this was a much tougher ask.
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes via Eurosport broadcast
Mo and Sports 