Iga Swiatek ties incredible Martina Navratilova record with Coco Gauff French Open victory

Iga Swiatek has reached her fourth French Open final after she produced another impressive display to defeat Coco Gauff in the last four.

The world No 1 earned a 6-2, 6-4 semi-final triumph to take her head-to-head record against Gauff to an astonishing 11-1.

The Pole broke Gauff in the opening game of the match and saved a break point in each of her first two service games, before earning the second break to go up 4-1 en route to taking the first set.

Swiatek fell 1-3 behind in the second set as the world No 3 responded strongly to losing the opener, but she lost just one more game from that point onwards as she sealed a convincing triumph.

This was Swiatek’s third victory against Gauff at Roland Garros in as many years after she beat the 20-year-old American in the final in 2022 and the quarter-finals in 2023.

The 23-year-old will face either Jasmine Paolini or Mirra Andreeva in the final and she will be a heavy favourite to claim her fourth French Open crown and fifth Grand Slam title. Swiatek has won all four of her previous Major finals and holds a sublime 21-4 record across all finals.

Swiatek’s victory over third-ranked Gauff, who will become the world No 2 next week, takes her record against top 10 opponents at Majors to 8-2.

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The Pole has tied tennis great Martina Navratilova to become the woman with the joint-most wins from their first 10 Grand Slam matches against players ranked in the top 10 in the last 40 years.

In her on-court interview, Swiatek praised Gauff’s development and the success the 20-year-old is already having.

“I think she’s progressing a lot. You can see by her results. Last year’s US Open showed she’s tough. At this age, it’s kind of obvious she’s gonna just grow,” she said.

“It’s nice to see her handling everything well around her because It’s not easy. I’m sure we’ll have plenty more intense matches at the highest level. Coco is one of the most consistent players out there.”

The four-time Grand Slam champion also spoke about her dominant run since saving a match point in her second round thriller against Naomi Osaka.

“For sure, something changed. I adjusted better to the court. It’s not easy to play the first matches on a Grand Slam because the atmosphere is much different than other tournaments,” Swiatek explained.

“Against Naomi, I didn’t have time to get into it. She was intense from the beginning and put pressure on me. I’m happy I handled it well. After that the weather changed. It helps my game I feel. I just gained confidence I would say.”

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