On a seemingly unstoppable surge towards a third straight French Open crown, Iga Swiatek must overcome one final Jasmine Paolini-sized obstacle to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup in Saturday's women's singles final.
The world number one continued her dominant streak over Coco Gauff in the semi-finals, while her Italian foe ended the magical run of 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva to reach her first Grand Slam final.
Match preview
© Reuters
Since an atrocious second set against fellow four-time major winner Naomi Osaka in round two, the scintillating Swiatek has been on the warpath, recording a double bagel over Anastasia Potapova and dropping just two games against Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova before reuniting with a familiar face in Gauff.
The pair renewed hostilities two years on from Swiatek's two-set success in the 2022 final, and by virtue of surviving a second-set scare against the reigning US Open champion, the Pole reached her fifth major final courtesy of a 6-2 6-4 triumph in just one hour and 37 minutes.
A break to 15th in the opening game set the tone for the first set, and even though Gauff drew first blood in the second to establish a 3-1 lead, too many mistakes left the American's racquet - 38 unforced errors to be exact - and Swiatek took the only two break points she fashioned after falling behind.
Three match points passed Swiatek by, but the 23-year-old's fourth opening coincidentally punched her ticket to her fourth French Open final, becoming the second-youngest woman in the Open Era to bring up that tally, only behind the legendary Steffi Graf.
Despite only managing 10 winners in her semi-final beating of Gauff, Swiatek let her impeccable defence and ruthlessness on break points do the talking as the American racked up the unforced errors, and few are betting against her to finally lose a major final at the fifth time of asking.
© Reuters
However, 12th-seeded underdog Paolini has belatedly earned her Grand Slam stars at Roland-Garros and followed up her quarter-final beating of an error-strewn Elena Rybakina by seeing off an emotional Andreeva 6-3 6-1 in Thursday's semi on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
After missing five chances to break her experienced foe in the opening set, Andreeva struggled to hold back the tears as Paolini moved 4-1 up in the second with a double break, and the irrepressible Italian showed no mercy henceforth, completing the one-hour and 13-minute battle with a break to love.
A fourth-round Australian Open appearance in January marked Paolini's best run at any major following a spate of first and second-round exits, but the 28-year-old is now just the third Italian woman to reach the Roland-Garros showpiece, following in Francesca Schiavone and Sara Errani's footsteps.
Paolini could even depart with two major honours to her name - she made it to the doubles final with Errani on Friday, making her singles feats all the more remarkable - and as was the case with Swiatek's semi-final with Gauff, the Italian let Andreeva do all of the work for her.
Indeed, the Russian committed 31 unforced errors compared to a paltry 10 for the resilient Paolini, who also beat away all six break points that the 17-year-old conjured up and must replicate such defensive fortitude this weekend if she is to stun the ostensibly invincible Swiatek.
Tournament so far
Iga Swiatek:
First round: vs. Leolia Jeanjean 6-1 6-2
Second round: vs. Naomi Osaka 7-6[1] 1-6 7-5
Third round: vs. Marie Bouzkova 6-4 6-2
Round of 16: vs. Anastasia Potapova 6-0 6-0
Quarter-final: vs. Marketa Vondrousova 6-0 6-2
Semi-final: vs. Coco Gauff 6-2 6-4
Jasmine Paolini:
First round: vs. Daria Saville 6-3 6-4
Second round: vs. Hailey Baptiste 6-4 7-6[6]
Third round: vs. Bianca Andreescu 6-1 3-6 6-0
Round of 16: vs. Elina Avanesyan 4-6 6-0 6-1
Quarter-final: vs. Elena Rybakina 6-2 4-6 6-4
Semi-final: vs. Mirra Andreeva 6-3 6-1
Head To Head
US Open (2022) - First round: Swiatek wins 6-3 6-0
Prague Open (2018) - Last 16: Swiatek wins 6-2 6-1
Saturday's tantalising final will see Swiatek and Paolini cross paths for the third time, and it should come as no surprise to learn that the former is a perfect 2-0 from previous meetings against the Italian.
Swiatek was just 17 years old when she roared to a 6-2 6-1 win over Paolini in an ITF competition in Prague in 2018 - which was fought on clay - and their maiden meeting on hard courts was also a straightforward affair for the Pole.
Indeed, Swiatek dropped just three games against the 28-year-old in the first round of the 2022 US Open, inflicting one of her famed bagels on Paolini before marching all the way to the title.
We say: Swiatek to win in two sets
To immediately write Paolini off would not do her incredible run to the Roland-Garros final justice, as the 12th seed possesses excellent defensive skills and applaudable forehand power, but arguably neither stack up to Swiatek's levels.
While the world number one is sure to come under the cosh a couple of times, she should rise to the occasion in the manner that she has always done at the French Open and complete a phenomenal three-peat, joining Monica Seles and Justine Henin in that exclusive women's club.
Ben Knapton
