By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Iga Swiatek sped through seven straight games crushing Marketa Vondrousova, 6-0, 6-2, to roll into the Roland Garros semifinals for the fourth time.
Photo credit: Mateo Villalba/Getty
Stroke symmetry is an Iga Swiatek strength.
Booming the ball of both wings, Swiatek showed she’s an equal opportunity obliterator.
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In a clash of Grand Slam champions, Swiatek sped through seven straight games demolishing Marketa Vondrousova, 6-0, 6-2, to roll into the Roland Garros semifinals for the fourth time in the last five years.
An overwhelming Swiatek doubled 2019 French Open finalist Vondrousova’s winner total—25 to 12—scoring her 17th straight clay-court victory.
Whether you’re a fourth-round debutant, as Anastasia Potapova was when Swiatek force fed her a double bagel in a 40-minute thrashing, or a Grand Slam champion and former French Open finalist as Vondrousova is, there is no safe space on Court Chatrier when Swiatek is stepping in rocking the ball.
A ruthless Swiatek has now dished 91 bagels in her career, including 25 at Grand Slams with three of those shutout sets coming in her last four sets.
Continuing her quest for a third consecutive Roland Garros crown and fourth overall, Swiatek rides a 19-match French Open winning streak into Thursday’s blockbuster semifinal vs. third-seeded Coco Gauff.
That match will be a rematch of the 2022 French Open final that saw Swiatek crush Gauff, 6-1, 6-3.
Earlier, US Open champion Gauff rallied past Ons Jabeur 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach her third straight major semifinal.
World No. 1 Swiatek has dominated Gauff, winning 10 of their 11 clashes and turning many of those encounters into a horror show for the American. Swiatek has won 21 of 23 sets vs. Gauff, sweeping all eight sets they’ve played on clay, including a 6-4, 6-3 Rome semifinal win last month.
"Against Coco, it's not easy," Swiatek said despite the lopsided head to head. "She really likes playing on clay and especially here, I think.
"So I'll just focus on myself and I'll prepare tactically and we'll see."
Since Swiatek saved a match point staving off former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5 in round two, she’s turned each subsequent encounter into an exercise in futility.
Today, Swiatek hammered the Czech’s second serve, winning five of nine break points, and won 23 of 26 first-serve points in a near-flawless performance.
Sprinting corner-to-corner, Vondrousova was giving her all to extend points. The left-hander fought off four break points in the fourth game.
A relentless Swiatek continued stringing with venom. Swiatek smacked a backhand winner down the line off the sideline breaking for a 4-0 lead just 20 minutes into the match.
Trying to fend off the swarming Swiatek, Vondrousova double faulted to face set point.
Controlling the center of the court, Swiatek whipped deep drives drawing the backhand error to dish out her third straight bagel set.
The top seed won 12 of 15 points played on her serve and broke three times in a dominant 29-minute opening set.
Swiatek snapped off 15 winners against three unforced errors in the opening set.
Overwhelmed in the opener, Vondrousova finally held 37 minutes into the match snapping Swiatek’s streak of 20 consecutive games, including the first seven of today’s quarterfinal.
Though Vondrousova moved to within 2-4 in the second set, Swiatek was simply too strong.
Blasting deep drives down both lines, Swiatek streaked through eight of the last 11 points to close in 62 minutes.
Since her two hour, 57-minute comeback win over Osaka, Swiatek has dropped just eight games in her last three tournament wins, delivering bagels in three of the last four sets she’s played.