Iga Swiatek is in the final at Roland Garros for the fourth time in her career: clear victory against Coco Gauff in the semifinals with the score of 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and thirty-seven minutes of playon Saturday afternoon she will look for her fourth triumph in Paris, the fifth at Slam level against one of Mirra Andreeva and Jasmine Paolini.
Gauff’s forehand starts to act up right from the start: the American player is caught at speed by the right side and is never able to control it. The break arrives immediately and Swiatek manages to consolidate it by holding two games to the advantage on his serve, canceling the break point in both cases: in the first case with a nice first in the center, in the second case with yet another error of meters with the forehand. After four balanced games that they see the Polish ahead 3-1Gauff gets discouraged and loses serve again and sees the first set fade away 6-2.
Gauff shakes off some tension at the beginning of the second set also thanks to an argument with the chair umpire Aurelie Tourte for an overrule on a serve from Swiatek. Swiatek who concedes something more, makes an error with her forehand and an error with her backhand on the balls for 2-2, the American plays an attacking point on the second break point, taking risks with his forehand and getting a deserved 3-1. The world number 1’s reaction comes immediately: she always takes the initiative in response and the counter-break is his. The player from Atlanta has less and less help on her first serve and exposes herself to the powerful response of the three-time champion of this tournament, who closed the match with a score of five games to one.
The numbers are clear: Gauff played the game, but in a too disorderly manner. 27 winners and 39 unforced errors, compared to just 14 unforced errors from Swiatek. The Pole lost her serve only once and also got a lot from the second serve: 67% compared to only 32% for the American.
