Swiatek into semis as Haddad Maia makes history
PARIS: Iga Swiatek cruised past Coco Gauff on Wednesday to reach the French Open semi-finals where she will face Beatriz Haddad Maia, the first Brazilian woman to make the last four of a Grand Slam in 55 years.
World number one and defending champion Swiatek, chasing a third title at Roland Garros, brushed aside 19-year-old Gauff 6-4, 6-2 in a rematch of last year’s final.
Swiatek improved her record in Paris to 26-2 after beating Gauff for the seventh time in as many meetings.
The 22-year-old from Poland is chasing a third French Open crown and attempting to become the first woman to successfully defend the title in Paris since Justine Henin in 2007.
“It wasn’t easy, the first set was really tight. Coco was really using the conditions, so I was happy to be able to work on it and win this match,” said Swiatek, who has yet to drop a set at the tournament.
World number 14 Haddad Maia defeated seventh-ranked Ons Jabeur 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1.
The 27-year-old left-hander follows in the footsteps of seven-time major winner Maria Bueno who was the last Brazilian woman in the semi-finals of a major at the US Open 55 years ago.
Bueno, who passed away in 2018, made the last four in Paris in 1966 before the advent of the Open era.
“Ons is not easy to play against, you have to be patient but I believed in my body and tried to keep my rhythm,” said Haddad Maia.
Jabeur, the runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2022, was playing in her first quarter-final at Roland Garros while Haddad Maia had never got past the second round of a Grand Slam before this French Open.
The Brazilian had saved a match point in the third round against Ekaterina Alexandrova and then defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo in a three-hour 51-minute marathon, the third longest women’s match ever played at the tournament.
She summoned all that fighting spirit in the second set against Jabeur, holding her nerve on a fourth set point.
Haddad Maia then swept into a 3-0 lead in the decider, saved four break points to stretch to a 5-1 advantage and took the match after two and a half hours when Jabeur hit long.
“I had a day off after my fourth round match. My amazing team worked hard on my body,” said the Brazilian.
Thursday’s other semi-final will see Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka tackle unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.
“I think I rushed my way back on tour, but that’s because I wanted to be ready for the French Open,” said Jabeur, whose build-up to Paris had been curtailed by a calf injury.
While anticipation grows over Friday’s men’s semi-final between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, attention on Wednesday was focused on who will join the two heavyweights in the last four.
Germany’s Alexander Zverev booked his place in the semi-finals for a third successive year with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina.
Zverev, the world number 27, will face either Casper Ruud, the 2022 runner-up, or Holger Rune for a place in Sunday’s final.
It will be Zverev’s sixth Grand Slam semi-final and comes a year after he suffered season-ending ankle ligament damage in his last-four loss to Rafael Nadal at the tournament.
ALCARAZ BOOKS DJOKOVIC CLASH
In Tuesday’s night session, top-ranked Alcaraz eased past 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas, sealing a 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) win to set up a blockbuster semi-final with Djokovic in what will be their first meeting of the year and second overall.
“If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best and he’s one of the best players in the world,” Alcaraz said. “I’m looking forward to the match at such a great level.”
Alcaraz once more showed why he is the favourite with a convincing victory over the Greek fifth seed, easily navigating his stiffest challenge to date. The 20-year-old Spaniard has won all five meetings with Tsitsipas and becomes the youngest Roland Garros semi-finalist since Djokovic in 2007.
Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2023
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