By Shrivathsa Sridhar
PARIS (Reuters) – Defending champion Iga Swiatek’s quest for a fourth French Open title hit top gear as she swatted aside former runner-up Marketa Vondrousova 6-0 6-2 in 62 minutes on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals.
The 23-year-old booked a seismic last-four clash with American Coco Gauff in a repeat of the 2022 final won by the Pole who will look to improve her 10-1 overall record against the third seed.
Swiatek wasted little time to start firing in the clash of reigning Grand Slam champions on Court Philippe Chatrier as she built a 5-0 lead over Wimbledon winner Vondrousova and wrapped up the opening set when the fifth seed hit a shot long.
It was the top seed’s third bagel in a row following her demolition of Russian Anastasia Potapova and she achieved it by dictating points from all parts of the court to completely overwhelm 2019 finalist Vondrousova.
The Czech cut a frustrated figure but finally got on board in the second set following a rare Swiatek mistake and earned a break point in the next game, but could not stop her ruthless rival from extending her winning run on clay to 17 matches.
Madrid and Rome champion Swiatek broke for a 3-1 lead and never looked back, sealing victory when Vondrousova hit a shot into the net.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar, editing by Ed Osmond)
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