Swiatek continues Gauff dominance and will play for 3rd straight French Open title

Iga Swiatek is as good as it gets in tennis at the moment, especially at the French Open. Been that way for quite some time. So her unyielding success against Coco Gauff just about everywhere, and certainly at Roland Garros, should come as no surprise by now.

Swiatek continued her mastery over Gauff and extended her winning streak in Paris to 20 matches with a 6-2, 6-4 victory in the semifinals on Thursday.

"For sure, it was intense," said the No. 1-ranked Swiatek, who claimed five of the last six games after trailing 3-1 in the second set. "I'm happy that I just was consistent with my tactics and didn't overthink stuff and just went for it at the end."

In Saturday's title match, Swiatek will face unseeded 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva of Russia or No. 12 Jasmine Paolini of Italy.

Swiatek is trying to earn her fourth championship in five years at the French Open and can become the first woman with three in a row since Justine Henin from 2007-09.

Swiatek improved to 11-1 overall against No. 3 seed Gauff, the reigning U.S. Open champion. That is more victories than Swiatek has accumulated against any other player — and includes head-to-head wins at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament three years in a row, including in the 2022 final and last year's quarterfinals.

"She is progressing a lot. You can see by her results. Last year's U.S. Open, for sure, showed that she's tough. At this age, it's kind of obvious that she's going to just grow. So it's nice to see her handling well everything around her, because it's not easy," said Swiatek, who turned 23 last week. "I'm sure we're going to have plenty more really intense matches on the really highest level."

WATCH | Swiatek beats Gauff in straight sets for 2022 French Open