PARIS: Thursday's French Open semifinal line-up is a compelling mixed bag of streaks and stories. The ladies are looking to own the court.
There's Iga Swiatek - the world No. 1, who secured her 33rd straight win in making the last-four. She takes on Daria Kasatkina, a first-timer in these leagues whose play is all about creating opportunities. The second semifinal will pit the 18-year-old sensation Coco Gauff versus the unseeded Italian Martina Trevisan, whose greatest triumph may have been scored away from the chalked lines, beating anorexia.
Kasatkina, the 20th seed, held off Veronika Kudermetova's challenge for a 6-4, 7-6 (5) result that gave her first Grand Slam semifinal, coming in her 26th start in a major. Swiatek, in her second Roland Garros semifinal, blew out 21 candles on her birthday cake on Tuesday, and then went on to stop American Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-2 in a performance that spelt focus.
The 25-year-old Kasatkina's style plays into Swiatek's athletic all-court game as their three meetings in 2022 - Melbourne, Doha and Dubai - suggest. The Pole won all three for the loss of a mere 11 games. "I want to use the experience I have, I know her game style pretty well (now). I know how her strokes feel on my racquet. That's pretty positive," the 21-year-old Swiatek said. "I feel she's playing more solid now. I'm going to prepare like for any other match. I don't really want to go back to those matches (earlier in the year) because they were on hard court and it was a different time for me."
Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion, said her charge here is different from two years ago. "This time I feel like I'm in the right place, that place that I worked really hard for." Kasatkina, who has struggled with injuries the last couple of years, has a striking sense of humour that reflects in her play. She bracketed the losses earlier this year to a 'different story'.
"I was not in the same shape as I am now," said Kasatkina, whose quarterfinal clash went over the two-hour mark. "I cannot compare what we are going to have tomorrow to what we had in Feb-Mar. It's going to be a completely different match. I want to win, she wants to win. It's the semifinal of a Grand Slam, it's going to be fun."
