Paris: Iga Swiatek stormed into the women’s singles semifinals of the French Open, delivering a clinical 6-0, 6-2 defeat to Marketa Vondrousova in just an hour and two minutes match at Court Philippe-Chatrier. The three-time Roland Garros champion showcased her relentless form, dismantling the fifth-seed Czech with ease.
From the outset, Swiatek established her dominance. She broke Vondrousova’s serve in the second game, setting the tone for the match. The fourth game turned into a drawn-out battle, with Swiatek dragging it out to finally secure a double-break with a piercing backhand winner.
The Wimbledon champion Vondrousova, despite her accolades, found herself outmatched, her efforts thwarted at every turn. Swiatek, sporting a purple skirt that matched her vibrant form, closed out the first set in just 28 minutes with a third break, overcoming Vondrousova.
Next up for Swiatek is Coco Gauff, who had earlier staged a superb comeback to beat Ons Jabeur in the quarterfinals. Swiatek, who began the match against Vondrousova with a front-footed approach, was dominant off both flanks, leaving her opponent chasing shadows across the baseline.
Her return game was equally potent, breaking Vondrousova’s serve with ease. At 3-0, Swiatek’s backhand grazed the line after some brutal forehands, securing her second break of the match.
The heavy hitting continued as Swiatek wrapped up the first set with a bagel. She carried this momentum into the second set, holding serve comfortably and continuing her devastating groundstrokes.
Vondrousova managed to hold serve at 1-1 and even spurned a break point as Swiatek showed a momentary lapse in concentration. However, Swiatek quickly regained her ruthless form, closing out the match just over the hour mark with another forced error from Vondrousova.
Swiatek ended the game with 25 winners, while Vondrousova tallied 18 forced errors. Reflecting on her performance, Swiatek said, “Honestly, I think everything worked. I feel like I’ve been serving better than in previous rounds, so that gave me an extra boost of confidence. Overall, I felt like I was playing well, and I could play my game and go with my tactics, and not overthink anything.”
She continued, “Today it was pretty straightforward. I’m happy that I kept my focus because sometimes I felt like the game was really intense, and sometimes the intensity went down a little. I wanted to play my game no matter what was coming back from Marketa, and I felt like I was in the zone today.”
Looking ahead to her match against Gauff, Swiatek remained pragmatic. “[I’ll prepare for Gauff] the same as any other match. You don’t want to change your routines. It’s good not to think about this match as something huge but just another match and not put too much baggage on your shoulders. Against Coco, it’s not easy. She really likes playing on clay, especially here, so I’ll focus on myself and prepare tactically. We’ll see.”
–IANS
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