French Open: Swiatek beats Pegula, moves to semifinals

French Open: Swiatek beats Pegula, moves to semifinals. (Picture Credits - IANS)


World No.1 Iga Swiatek’s unbeaten run extended to 33 straight matches with a victory over No.11 seed Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals of the French Open here on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old Swiatek moved into the French Open semifinals for the second time in her career with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over American Jessica Pegula in Paris.

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.

Swiatek was tested 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.

Standing between 2020 champion Swiatek and a second appearance in the championship match in Paris is No.20 seed Daria Kasatkina, who was victorious over Veronika Kudermetova to start the day. Swiatek leads their overall head-to-head, 3-1, with all three of those wins coming this year.

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.

(Inputs from IANS)