Iga Swiatek matches Chris Evert's long-standing Grand Slam record after French Open 2024 SF win over Coco Gauff
Iga Swiatek convincingly defeated Coco Gauff in the 2024 French Open semifinal. The Pole's extraordinary skills on clay have helped her match former World No. 1 Chris Evert's record of 34 wins at the Paris Slam in the fewest games.
Top seed Swiatek against third seed Gauff was billed to be one of the most exciting encounters at this year's French Open. However, the Pole's dominance over the American shone. The World No. 1 won the match 6-2, 6-4. This was her 11th win over Gauff in 12 matches and all of those have been in straight sets.
Both competitors started well using their strengths but the Pole raced away and dropped only two games on the way to winning the first set.
In the second set, Gauff put up a valiant effort and went 3-1 up after an argument with the chair umpire that left her visibly emotional. Swiatek, however, broke back twice and earned a win in her fourth match point.
The defending champion racked up several records with her win over Gauff. This was her 34th French Open win and it levels her with Chris Evert in achieving this number of wins in the fewest games (36).
She also became only the third woman this century to reach three consecutive Roland Garros finals after Maria Sharapova (2012-14) and Justine Henin (2005-07).
Swiatek, who won the title in 2022 and 2023, has now racked up 20 consecutive wins at the tournament. Evert's 29 French Open wins are the most consecutive wins earned by a woman in the Open Era. Evert is followed by Monica Seles (25), Henin (24), and Steffi Graf (20).
Iga Swiatek heaps praise on her French Open 2024 SF opponent Coco Gauff
Iga Swiatek was all praise for Coco Gauff after achieving her 11th win over the American. Gauff, who will attain a career-high ranking of World No. 2 after the French Open, is progressing well and the Pole expects more intense battles between them in the future.
"Well, I think she is progressing a lot... It's kind of obvious that she is going to just grow," Swiatek said during her post-match interview.
"So it's nice to see her handling well everything around her and it's not easy so I'm sure we're going to have plenty more really intense matches on the highest level because Coco is also one of the consistent player out there."
Iga Swiatek is on her way to achieving a treble of Madrid Open, Italian Open, and French Open titles in the same season. It was done only once before in the WTA by Serena Williams in 2013.