Swiatek Pounds Pegula For Rome SF Return
By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Photo credit: Internazionali BNL d’Italia Facebook
In the Eternal City, Iga Swiatek is provoking persistent pain.
A sharp Swiatek shredded Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-2 roaring into her first semifinal of the season in Rome today.
Three-time Rome champion Swiatek ruptured new coach Francisco Roig’s Achilles in a pre-tournament mini-tennis match and she’s spent the tournament punishing opponents. Swiatek, who has won a 6-1 set in all four of her Rome wins, is 58-1 on clay when winning a set 6-0 or 6-1.
Swiatek pounded Pegula with deep drives in racing out to a 5-0 lead first-set lead and 4-0 second-set lead. Swiatek said she’s focused on re-establishing her topspin forehand ferocity while training with Coach Roig at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca in sessions that included the King of Clay himself.
Instead of trying to hit flatter forehands, Swiatek is embracing her red-clay roots in hitting her forehand with more height, spin and depth making the ball dance deep in the court.
“I’ve been playing a bit differently, I would say. More similar to how I played couple years ago, more like a clay court player,” Swiatek said. “I guess all the things that we practiced really clicked during last few matches.
“Yeah, I was feeling that I can really add a lot of spin and a lot of power to the forehand. The trajectory was really nice. I just used it.”
Commanding the center of the court, Swiatek frequently used her kick serve to set up her heavy topspin forehand strike. Facing one of the game’s premier returners in Pegula, Swiatek served 78 percent, dropped only 12 points on serve and did not face a break point in a 67-minute thrashing.
The fourth-seeded Swiatek will face either second-seeded Elena Rybakina or two-time champion Elina Svitolina for a spot in the final. Swiatek is playing for her 26th career championship, including an 11th clay-court crown. Swiatek is bidding for her first clay-court title since she captured the 2024 Roland Garros championship.
Beneath a dreary sky at the start, Swiatek lit up the red clay with forehand strikes. A Swiatek forehand winner down the line gave her break point and she broke for 2-0 on a Pegula double fault.
A slight rain began to fall as Swiatek unleashed a flurry of forehands landing the last one right off the sideline for double break point in the fourth game. Swiatek broke again for a 4-0 lead after just 17 minutes.
Taking some pace off first serve, Swiatek served 76 percent and set up her first strike effectively in a commanding opening set. Pegula held to get on the board in the sixth game.
On her second set point, Swiatek drew an errant forehand completing a near-flawless first set in 29 minutes. Swiatek won 16 of 21 points played on her serve in the set.
Starting the second set with a break, Swiatek was relentless pushing Pegula into obscure areas of the court. Relying on fast footwork, Swiatek stretched the corner sending the American side-to-side in breaking again for a 3-0 second-set lead.
Slashing an ace down the T, Swiatek held at 15 for a 6-1, 4-0 lead after 46 minutes of play.
“Honestly I feel on clay that there is not so much pressure on the serve because it’s not so easy to get free points,” Swiatek told the media in Rome. “I know I have a really great baseline game, so even if my serve is going to be kind of normal and not do a lot, I know it’s still in my hands what to happen with the
point. I don’t think it’s that much important.
“But for sure, yeah, the placement is more important than the speed here ’cause the ball will bounce pretty high anyway, even when you serve like 180. It’s good to already, like, open up the court if you can with the serve.”
On her second match point, Swiatek cranked up the kick serve to snap a two-match losing streak to Pegula and take a 7-5 lead in their head-to-head series.
An exuberant Swiatek pumped her clenched fist in victory beating Pegula for the second time in two clay encounters after winning their first meeting 6-3, 6-2 in the 2022 Roland Garros quarterfinals.
Today, Swiatek showed the baseline command she displayed in winning four French Open championships.
Swiatek, who improved to 18-8 on the season, will face a fellow former champion in Rybakina or Svitolina for a final return.
The Eternal City is looking like Iga’s happy place again.
“Yeah, if you play well, if you feel the ball right, if you are doing the right things, it’s all clicking, it’s easy to enjoy,” Swiatek said. “Yeah, I am enjoying.
“There are tournaments that you enjoy; there are tournaments where you feel you play terrible, not even play but you overall feel terrible. You need to kind of accept it can happen and kind of move on, work so you have opportunity to play good on the next one maybe. For sure I feel good here.”
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