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WOMEN'S DAY 10 WRAP: Gauff and Swiatek set up Roland Garros semi showdown

general04 June 2024 11:30| © AFP
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Defending champion Iga Swiatek declared that she was in the zone as her quest for a fourth French Open title hit top gear after a 6-0 6-2 victory over former runner-up Marketa Vondrousova sent her through to the semifinals on Tuesday.

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The 23-year-old's 62-minute workout set up a seismic last-four encounter with American Coco Gauff in a repeat of the 2022 final won by the Pole who will look to improve her 10-1 overall record against the third seed.

"Today it was pretty straightforward. I'm happy that I kept my focus. Sometimes I felt the game was pretty intense," Swiatek said after making the Roland Garros semifinals for the fourth time in five years.

"Sometimes the intensity went down a bit. I wanted to just play my game no matter what was coming back from Marketa. I felt like I was in the zone today."

Swiatek wasted little time to start firing in the clash of reigning Grand Slam champions on Court Philippe Chatrier as she built a 5-0 lead over Wimbledon winner Vondrousova and wrapped up the opening set when the fifth seed hit a shot long.

It was the top seed's third bagel in a row following her demolition of Russian Anastasia Potapova and she achieved it by dictating points from all parts of the court to completely overwhelm 2019 finalist Vondrousova.

The Czech cut a frustrated figure but finally got on board in the second set following a rare Swiatek mistake and earned a break point in the next game, but could not stop her ruthless rival from extending her winning run on clay to 17 matches.

Madrid and Rome champion Swiatek broke for a 3-1 lead and never looked back, sealing victory when Vondrousova hit a shot into the net, and she quickly turned her attention to Gauff.

"It's good to keep going and not think of this match as something huge," Swiatek said.

"Against Coco it isn't easy. She really likes clay, especially here. I'll just focus on myself and I'll prepare tactically and we'll see."

SPIRITED GAUFF OVERPOWERS JABEUR

Earlier, third seed Coco Gauff fought back to beat fan-favourite Ons Jabeur 4-6 6-2 6-3 and become the first player to reach the semifinals.

Jabeur was roared on by a Tunisian contingent on Court Philippe-Chatrier as Gauff dropped the opening set, but the American grew in confidence in the second and stamped her authority in the third to reach the semis for the second time.

"She's a tough opponent, she's well loved on tour and I could tell by the crowd today. I know you guys wanted her to win," reigning US Open champion Gauff said.

"Honestly, whenever she's not playing (against me), I cheer for her too. So thank you guys for making it a good atmosphere. I like playing in environments like this.

"Even when I lost the first set and they were chanting when I was in the bathroom, I was like, 'This is just really fun', win or lose."

The pair matched each other blow for blow in the opening set, whether it was rallying from the baseline or coming into the net.

In an eight-minute game at 3-3, however, Jabeur finally converted a break point and the Tunisian hit a purple patch on serve as Gauff had no answer to her pinpoint winners and drop shots.

Roared on by her fans, Jabeur made it 5-3 in a flash and nearly broke Gauff again before wrapping up the set on serve, sealing it with a searing ace.

Gauff grew in confidence in the second set, however, especially on serve where she consistently went over 200 km/hr, while Jabeur faltered as the American converted all three break point opportunities to force a decider.

"I was definitely trying to be more aggressive. She was playing really well the whole match," Gauff added.

"She was hitting a lot of winners on me, which is something I'm not used to against anybody. So today I was just trying to be aggressive towards the end."

Gauff carried that momentum into the third set and consolidated a break to go 4-1 up as Jabeur's forehand deserted her.

Although Jabeur had her moments, with her risk-for-rewards shot-making, she could not cut out her unforced errors as Gauff sealed victory on serve when the Tunisian's volley went wide.

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