Swiatek, Sabalenka into French Open semis

Observer

2 days ago

PARIS: Three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek set up a blockbuster French Open semifinal clash with world number one Aryna Sabalenka on Tuesday, as reigning men's holder Carlos Alcaraz powered his way into the last four. Alcaraz blew away American 12th seed Tommy Paul for the loss of just five games in the night session on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The Spaniard needed just one hour 34 minutes to dismantle Paul 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 and set up a last-four meeting with Italy's Lorenzo Musetti.
"I'm sorry you wanted to watch more tennis, I had to do my work," Alcaraz told the crowd.
"It was one of those matches where I could close my eyes and everything went in. It was like my feeling today was unbelievable."
Earlier, Swiatek, the fifth seed, got past Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-1, 7-5, after top women's seed Sabalenka won a tense quarterfinal against Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
World number five Swiatek has been struggling for her best form and has not reached a final since winning the French Open title last year.
But she gave 13th seed Svitolina little opportunity on her favoured clay surface, breaking in the fourth game to ease through the first set, in windy conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The pair exchanged consecutive breaks of serve early in the second set, before Swiatek forced the breakthrough at 5-5 with a powerful forehand down the line.
She then sealed the win with back-to-back aces. "Even though the first set, the score looks pretty straightforward, it wasn't, I had to fight for every point." said Swiatek.
AlCARAZ, MUSETTI REMATCH
Swiatek is aiming to become the first woman to win four straight Roland Garros crowns since Suzanne Lenglen 102 years ago.
"(Aryna) has been having a great season so I'm not going to lie, it is going to be a tough match. But I'm happy for the challenge," said Swiatek, after reeling off her 26th win in a row at the French Open.
Both players have shared the number one ranking between them since April 2022.
Sabalenka ended Swiatek's 11-month reign as world number one last October but the Pole leads 8-4 in their previous meetings.
Earlier, reigning US Open champion Sabalenka avenged her recent loss to Zheng in Rome.
"The last tournament I was pretty exhausted," said Sabalenka.
"Today I was more fresh, I was ready to battle."
Sabalenka once again got the upper hand over Zheng, who had been on a winning streak of 10 matches on the Paris clay after her run to Olympic gold last year.
Zheng broke and led 4-2 in the first set. But numerous unforced errors — 31 in total — allowed the Belarusian to come back.
"I gave her the chance, so easy," said Zheng, who has lost seven times in eight meetings with Sabalenka, including in last year's Australian Open final.
Madrid Open champion Sabalenka feels she is ready to go all the way in Paris, where her previous best was the semifinals two years ago.
"It's high-level matches. I'm super excited to go out there and to fight and to do everything I need to get the win," said Sabalenka.
Alcaraz, 22, dispatched former world number nine Paul after Musetti had earlier seen off Paul's 15th seeded compatriot Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
The second seed hit 40 winners and made just 22 unforced errors against Paul, who he also beat on his way to silver at the Paris Olympics last year.
Eighth seed Musetti, 23, took over two hours 45 minutes to get past Tiafoe and qualify for his second Grand Slam semifinal, after Wimbledon last year.
Musetti's serve proved to be a major weapon on the day as he fired down eight aces with an 81 per cent success rate on his first serve.
He also saved two of the three break points engineered by Tiafoe, who had 51 unforced errors to the Italian's 32.
It will be the third time Alcaraz and Musetti meet this clay-court season.
Alcaraz has dominated that series — beating the Italian in the final in Monte Carlo before also stopping him in the last four on his way to the Rome title. — AFP