World No.1 Iga Swiatek advanced to the semifinals of the San Diego Open after a dominant 6-0, 6-3 win over No.8 Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals. The victory extended Swiatek's undefeated record against Gauff to 4-0 and improved her record against Top 10 opposition to 11-1 this season.
Into her third consecutive semifinal, Swiatek will face World No.6 Jessica Pegula in Saturday's semifinal.
Three thoughts on Swiatek's clinical victory:
Swiatek's offense proves the difference: Swiatek and Gauff are able to go toe-to-toe when it comes to court speed, court coverage, and defense. But the biggest difference in their games at the moment is offense, the area where Swiatek has improved the most in 2022.
In their third meeting of the season and second on hard court, Swiatek's heavy forehand methodically broke down Gauff's shakier forehand. Gauff hit 11 unforced errors on that side in the opening set. Swiatek hit none. When Gauff tried to pressure Swiatek by coming into the net, the Pole passed her comfortably and regularly. As she has done to all manner of opponents in 2022, Swiatek took away any and all zones of comfort for Gauff, who found herself reacting as opposed to controlling any portion of the match.
Swiatek quickly pocketed the first eight games of the match before Gauff held serve to 2-1 in the second set, but ever the front-runner, Swiatek never looked back. In an efficient 65-minute effort, Swiatek finished the match with 13 winners to 9 unforced errors while breaking Gauff five times. Gauff hit 17 winners to 26 unforced errors and could not convert on the three break-point chances she earned.
It's a difficult match-up for Gauff at this point in her career. She has not won more than four games in any of the six sets they played this year.
Not even jet lag can put the No.1 off her game: Swiatek's decision to play San Diego right after a physically and emotionally tough week in Ostrava was a surprising one to many. Never one to flinch at a test, Swiatek wanted to see how she would react to the quick turnaround and change in timezone and conditions.
She's passed that test with flying colors. Dealt a tough draw, Swiatek handled Tokyo finalist Zheng Qinwen in three sets in her opening match and followed it up with a statement performance to beat Gauff. In every tournament at which she has played Gauff, Swiatek has gone on to win the title, having beaten the American at 2021 Rome, 2022 Miami, and 2022 Roland Garros.
The victory is Swiatek's 62nd of the season and 40th on hard court. Having won Indian Wells, Miami, and the US Open, the 21-year-old is now 22-1 in the United States this season. The first set against Gauff was her 20th 6-0 "bagel" set of the season, the most since Serena Williams posted 25 in her 2013 season.
Swiatek's Roland Garros redux continues: To win her eighth title of the season, Swiatek is going to have to go through Zheng, Gauff, and next Pegula. She beat all three in Paris to win her second major in the spring.
"I've played [Swiatek] so often that I kind of know what to expect," Pegula said. "She plays super athletic, aggressive, defends really well. She does everything at a really high level. She plays a little bit different than the girls and sometimes that can be the difference. You're not used to playing someone like her.
"I'd like to say maybe it's better playing her at the end of the year, but I don't know. We'll see how the match goes."
Swiatek and Pegula will lock horns for the fourth time this season. Swiatek has swept their sets, winning in the Miami semifinals, Roland Garros quarterfinals, and US Open quarterfinals last month.
"Jessie is one of the most solid players on tour so it's always hard," Swiatek said. "Our matches are always physical and really tight. Even though sometimes the scores are one way, you can see during the games we always have deuces and any point can matter.
"I'm pretty happy that we're going to play against each other because it's a test for me of where my level is because she's really, really solid."
That's 62 wins for the year,11th semi final, 20th bagel set, (also has 20 6-1 sets).
40th hardcourt win (22-1 in the U.S.)
First woman since Serena in 2013 with 10,000 ranking points (4th overall since intro of computerized ranking).
Just Iga doing Iga things :)
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