Second seed Karolina Pliskova brushed aside home favourite Caroline Garcia 7-6 (3), 6-4 in their quarterfinal to set up a last-four meeting with third seed Simona Halep, who had to dig deep to beat Elina Svitolina 3-6, 7-6 (8), 6-1 on an action-packed Wednesday at the 2017 French Open.
Pliskova had been stretched to three sets twice, in the first round and the fourth round, and she showcased nerves of steel in front of a partisan crowd to mark her best-ever appearance at a Grand Slam.
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The opening set was close as neither player was able to break and consolidate, but the second-seeded Pliskova accelerated in the ensuing tie-break to draw first-blood with over an hour and 13 minutes on the clock.
Garcia, winner of a fiery duel with compatriot Alize Cornet in the previous round, seemed to wilt in the second set, unable to match her Czech opponent. Pliskova kept the pressure up before eventually breaking in the tenth game, ending her hopes of reaching her first-ever semifinal at a Grand Slam.
The match was done and dusted in little less than two hours and after all the hype, it was an anti-climax of sorts but the other Womens’ quarterfinal more than made amends.
Third-seeded Simona Halep saved a match-point in the second set to eventually trump the fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina in a three-set epic.
Halep had a horror start to the match, losing the first five games on the trot before the 2014 French Open finalist recovered to win the next four games, but it wasn't enough as Svitolina hung on to take the opener 6-3.
The Ukrainian Svitolina broke Halep early in the second set and at 5-1 the tie looked done and dusted. Cue the remarkable comeback by Halep, who won an incredible six games in a row to take the lead. Svitolina managed to hold her serve to force the issue into a tie-break and once again, Halep managed to recover from a poor start. Down 5-6 in the tie-break, she sent a sizzling backhand winner to stave off the match-point, levelling proceedings and as Svitolina crumbled, Halep took home the set to level the match at one-set all.
Like the Mens’ quarterfinal match between defending champion Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem earlier in the day, the final set was a blow-out with Halep romping home to keep her quest for a maiden Grand Slam alive.
