Iga Swiatek's unbeaten run has hit 33 straight matches. The World No.1 moved into the French Open semifinals for the second time in her career with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over American Jessica Pegula on Wednesday in Paris.
Swiatek has now beaten Pegula twice during her 33-match stretch; they also played in the semifinals of the Miami Open in March, where Swiatek eventually won the third of her five straight titles. Swiatek's win also puts her in sole possession of third in the list of longest WTA winning streaks this century; she shared 32 with Justine Henin's effort between 2007-08.
Solid 💥#RolandGarros | @iga_swiatek pic.twitter.com/6ZG2UvHoQ4
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 1, 2022
Match management: Swiatek was tested both early and late by Pegula in the 89-minute quarterfinal. The pair traded serviced breaks to start the match, and the American saved three match points in the second set before succumbing to defeat. In between, though, Swiatek won seven of eight games played to lead 6-3, 4-1.
Swiatek totaled 30 winners to 28 unforced errors and broke Pegula five times on her 11 chances.
Up next: Standing between 2020 champion Swiatek and a second appearance in the championship match in Paris is No.20 seed Daria Kasatkina, who was victorious against Veronika Kudermetova to start the day. Swiatek leads their overall head-to-head, 3-1, with all three of those wins coming this year.
33 matches on the trot and a semi-final berth.
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 1, 2022
All in a day's work for a freshly-minted 21 year old 🎁#RolandGarros | @iga_swiatek pic.twitter.com/IlAcuRRBBM
Kasatkina tops Kudermetova to make first major semifinal at French Open
In six sets played between the two on hard courts this year at the Australian Open, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and Qatar Total Open, Swiatek lost 11 games combined.
"I want to use the experience that I have and also I know her game style pretty well and I know how her strokes how I feel them on my racquet, so that's pretty positive," Swiatek said.
"But I don't really want to become overconfident. I don't think it's going to happen because still it's semifinal of a Grand Slam and she really deserves with her game to be here. Because I feel like she's playing even more solid than she was and she already played really solid.
"I'm going to prepare as to any other match and for sure I'm going to use the experience, but I don't really want to come back to those matches because they were on hard court and it was a different time for me.
"I feel like I'm in the right place and that place that I kind of worked for really hard. ... Being in the semifinal, it's a new experience because it [doesn't] happen very often and I hope I'm going to use my chance."