Madras Times - Reigning champion Swiatek beats Svitolina to reach French Open semis

Swiatek bested the former world number three 6-1, 7-5 in just over 90 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier to continue her bid to equal a 102-year record by winning four successive French Open titles.

The Polish fifth seed will face world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals after the Belarusian earlier bested Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the last eight.

"Aryna is always a challenge, she has a game for every surface. I need to focus on myself, do the work and just go for it," said Swiatek.

The rivals have never met at Roland Garros, but Swiatek emerged the victor in their last two meetings on clay -- in the finals of the Madrid and Italian Opens last season.

"It's going to be a tough match but I'm happy for the challenge," the 24-year-old added.

After starting sluggishly in her fourth-round win over former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina, where Swiatek found herself 6-1, 2-0 down before kicking into gear, she hit the ground running on Tuesday.

Swiatek broke Svitolina's serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead, before outlasting her opponent in two lengthy, tightly-contested games to consolidate her advantage.

The five-time Grand Slam winner then served out the opener to 15 on a gusty centre court in Paris.

The pair exchanged consecutive breaks of serve early in the second set, but neither could seize the advantage until Swiatek forced the breakthrough at 5-5 with a powerful forehand down the line.

Swiatek showed her killer instinct by holding again to 15 and sealing the win with back-to-back aces.

Defeat for Svitolina means the 30-year-old Ukrainian has never progressed further than the quarter-finals at Roland Garros despite reaching the last-eight stage five times in her career.

M.Chandra--MT