French Open: Swiatek sets up semifinal clash with Kasatkina

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."