Iga Swiatek’s Dominating Victory at Roland Garros 2024, Advances to Semifinals Against Coco Gauff
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek continues her impressive run at Roland Garros, securing a spot in the semifinals after a commanding 6-0, 6-2 victory over Marketa Vondrousova on Tuesday.
Swiatek, aiming for her fourth French Open title, has now won 25 of her last 27 games and is just two wins away from another triumph in Paris.
Regarding her perfect performance on the court, Swiatek commented, “To be honest, I think everything worked.” “I believe my serving has improved from earlier rounds, which has given me more confidence. In general, I thought that I was playing quite hard and that I should just follow my strategy, play my game, and not really overthink things.”
After infamously double-bageling Anastasia Potapova in the fourth round, the top seed won an even 20 games in a row against Marie Bouzkova. Although Vondrousova managed to score, the defending Wimbledon champion was unable to stop Swiatek, who secured her place in the semifinals after just 62 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
In a rematch of the 2022 final, Swiatek will next take on No. 3 seed Coco Gauff. Gauff overcame a set down to upset Ons Jabeur, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Swiatek’s present supremacy stands in sharp contrast to her situation last Wednesday beneath the Chatrier roof in the second round against former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka, who nearly eliminated her. The double-defending champion Swiatek has improved with every set she has played, conceding less games until she didn’t lose any at all against Potapova to advance to the quarterfinals. This is after she overcame a 2–5 deficit in the second set to survive Osaka.
In their three prior confrontations, Vondrousova had yet to win a set against the world No. 1; their first meeting was in the opening round of the 2020 Roland Garros, where a teenage Swiatek went on to win her first of four (and counting) major titles. Their most recent match took place at the WTA Finals in the fall, where Swiatek prevailed in a decisive second set to win the match and go on to win the year-end titles for the first time.
Also Read: Ons Jabeur: Harnessing Experience and Playing Free at Roland Garros 2024
“I think I’m much superior to everyone else on clay, especially this place,” Vondrousova remarked of Swiatek following the game. Yes, it’s really difficult. You know, I feel that you have nothing to contribute on the court or that she is simply too strong in this situation.
Yes, I didn’t feel awful, but generally speaking, I thought she was just better at the rallies. Thus, in my opinion, she was superior today.”
Swiatek resumed her excellent play after her Sunday’s performance against Potapova, whom the Pole had given up just 10 points against, in Cancun. She broke service three times in less than thirty minutes, striking a whooping fifteen winners to just three unforced errors, moving straight up to the No. 5.
In the second set, Vondrousova broke Swiatek’s run of twenty games in a row with a hold, but as the match was about to end in less than an hour, she immediately trailed by a break.
Swiatek faced her first break of service in nearly a week when the Czech Republic held for the second time and took a 15–30 lead, but Swiatek remained unflappable, claiming seven of the final eight games to advance to her third consecutive semifinal in Paris and her sixth career major semifinal. She made 25 wins to 15 unforced errors overall, compared to Vondrousova’s 12 winners to 15 unforced errors.
In her upcoming match, Swiatek is favored heavily against Gauff, since she has a 10-1 head-to-head record and a 4-0 record on clay. The previous time they played, three weeks ago, Swiatek prevailed in straight sets at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
