French Open: ‘World No. 1 for a reason’ - Iga Swiatek ‘leaves opponents clueless’, says Alize Lim
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ByOli Gent
Updated 06/06/2024 at 17:50 GMT
Eurosport expert Alize Lim has said that Iga Swiatek is "world No. 1 for a reason" after the Pole's straight-sets victory over Coco Gauff in the French Open semi-finals. The top seed cruised past the third seed 6-2 6-4 on Court Philippe-Chatrier, needing an hour and 27 minutes to overcome the American. She will face Jasmine Paolini in Saturday's final, after the Italian beat Mirra Andreeva.
'Everything is great' - Expert reaction as Swiatek beats Gauff to reach Roland-Garros final
Eurosport expert Alize Lim has said that Iga Swiatek “leaves her opponents clueless” following the world No. 1’s rampant semi-final victory over Coco Gauff at the French Open.
The Pole moved into her fourth final at Roland-Garros in one hour and 37 minutes, coming through 6-2 6-4 against the third seed on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Swiatek was at her brilliant best to overcome the American, who made 39 unforced errors.
Lim, who reached the first round proper of Roland-Garros four times in her playing career, said that Swiatek’s self-belief was “unmatched".
“She’s the world No. 1 for a reason,” Lim said on Eurosport.
“She leaves her opponents clueless out there. The self-belief she has now is unmatched. She is so confident at the moment and everything is gathered together. It’s almost like Coco had no idea.”
Tennis legend Chris Evert, on commentary duty for Eurosport, was impressed with Swiatek’s psyche and her performance in what was “very much a final match” for the three-time French Open champion, who she dubbed the ‘Queen of Clay’.
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French Open highlights - Swiatek storms into another final with win over Gauff
“I know Iga thought this was her big match, and this was very much a final match,” Evert said as Swiatek celebrated.
“She’s got to be relieved that she won it. Gauff played a B- match for her, but an A+ in terms of being a great competitor and sportsman. They’re going to be playing [each other] a lot of times.
“The fact of the matter is that she just gave away too many points. 36 versus 12 unforced errors says it all. Only 32% of her second-serve points she won. She has things to work on against Iga Swiatek, but Iga - wow, she played well. She played vintage Iga Swiatek.
“She got psyched up for that match and this is why she’s the 'Queen of Clay’.
"There are always moments in their matches where you feel like Coco’s going to come back, but she just doesn’t have what Iga has yet.
"Iga can pull shots out from her repertoire when she needs them, and Coco was spraying those forehands not 100% sure of that one shot."
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Fellow Eurosport pundit Alex Corretja believed that Gauff gave her best, but that was still not enough to live with the electric top seed.
“She’s so difficult to play against,” Corretja, a French Open finalist himself, said.
“She moves extremely well and is hitting the ball even harder than before. She is solid with her forehand with some spin on the ball on a hot day today, but her backhand is also so deep, and her serve.
"Coco tried her best but it was not enough. Coco usually plays at a level where she feels comfortable with her opponents. But when she faces Iga, she needs to go for more and starts missing more. She wasn’t as solid [today].
“It was not enough because when you lose a little bit of your essence, that’s when you start missing. I think Iga will bring Coco to another level because she will have to work out how to beat her.”
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Defending champion Swiatek beats Gauff to reach fourth Roland-Garros final
Mats Wilander agreed, saying that Gauff’s only chance of beating Swiatek was by taking risks.
“I love the energy with Iga,” Wilander said.
“I think Coco’s only way of beating Iga was very risky tennis. I think she’s too smart though, as physically she can go with Iga and run forever. But on a clay court, I do not think it is possible for her to beat Iga.”
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