World No.1 Iga Swiatek is in pole position to claim a staggering fourth French Open title as she extended her head-to-head count against Coco Gauff 11-1.
It’s easy to forget that Gauff is only 20 years of age, but she demonstrated her ability to adapt according to the level of her opponent, deciding to play more aggressively despite the increased unforced errors.
Against Swiatek however, the experience on clay proved a mountain to climb as she progressed 6-2, 6-4.
She will fancy her chances in tomorrow night’s decider as underdog story Jasmine Paolini produced another scary performance, failing to drop serve once en route to an unexpectedly comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win over 17-year-old prodigy Mirra Andreeva.
Italian duo Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori exacted revenge for their defeat at the Australian Open doubles final to scrap through 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 against 44-year-old Rohan Bopanna and Australia’s Matt Ebden.
The Italian surge continues to dominate the French Open, representing the women’s final, men’s semi, and men’s doubles final.
Men’s Semi-Final Preview:
Tonight at 10:30pm AEDT, the ninth meeting between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will dominate the headlines as a scintillating epic is highly likely if recent history is anything to judge.
At the 2022 US Open quarter-finals, the pair fought tirelessly in a five-set marathon dubbed by many as the greatest match ever witnessed, (and that’s no exaggeration).
The head-to-head is split at 4-4, with the Italian winning the only meeting on clay in Umag two years ago. Get the popcorn ready.
In the later match, Novak Djokovic’s sudden withdrawal has opened the door wide open for Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev to lift a first major title.
Both understand the enormity and pressure when it comes to this stage - Ruud has reached back-to-back finals at Roland Garros while Zverev has achieved three consecutive semi-finals in Paris prior to this edition.
Essentially a coin flip at this stage, the energy taken out of the world No.4 German has to benefit Ruud who had the luxury of a day off in the quarters.
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