Iga Swiatek believes a hard-won victory over Emma Raducanu on Friday will steel her for challenges ahead after reaching the Stuttgart Open semi-finals.
World number one Swiatek landed a 21st consecutive victory as she edged out US Open winner Raducanu 6-4 6-4 in an hour and 45 minutes on the German clay.
There was plenty to admire from both players, but in the end it was another straight-sets success for Swiatek, who dropped only two games in her previous round against German Eva Lys.
It makes the 20-year-old Pole the first woman to win 28 consecutive sets on tour since Serena Williams, who did so from the 2012 US Open to the 2013 Australian Open.
Swiatek broke early in the first set to take charge, and with 19-year-old Raducanu battling a back problem the rankings leader soon got ahead in the second too.
This was Raducanu's first-ever match against a player ranked inside the WTA top 10, a peculiar statistic given she is already a grand slam champion.
Swiatek, like her opponent, knows how it feels to win a grand slam as a teenage surprise package, having triumphed as a 19-year-old at the 2020 French Open when ranked only 54th in the world.
At 4-3 in the second set of this contest, Swiatek saved two break points with clinical forehand winners out of the reach of Raducanu, shouting out in satisfaction moments later as she held serve to move a game away.
Raducanu had two more break chances in Swiatek's next service game but again could not convert as her opponent sealed victory.
Swiatek said: "I'm pretty happy that today's match was longer. Not for now, but for the future it's going to give me a lot of experience.
"Right now I want to play really aggressively, and I think this game style is going to fit the surface, and it fit the hardcourts as well."
She will face unseeded Liudmila Samsonova next after the Russian, playing as a neutral, beat Laura Siegemund 7-5 6-3.
The other semi-final in Stuttgart will see second seed Paula Badosa take on third seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Badosa was a 7-6 (11-9) 1-6 6-3 winner against Ons Jabeur, while Sabalenka fended off Anett Kontaveit 6-4 3-6 6-1.
At the Istanbul Cup, Friday saw quarter-final wins for Veronika Kudermetova and Anastasia Potapova, along with Sorana Cirstea and Yulia Putintseva.
Those results set up a semi-final on Saturday between second seed Cirstea and third seed Kudermetova, with Putintseva and Potapova also facing off.
Carlos Alcaraz is relishing the chance to take on Novak Djokovic for a place in the French Open final, according to his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.
The hotly-anticipated clash will take place at Roland Garros on Friday after both moved through to the last four without dropping a set.
It is a fascinating battle of the generations, with 36-year-old Djokovic chasing a record-breaking 23rd grand slam title and Alcaraz, 16 years his junior, a second.
Ferrero knows what it takes to win on the Parisian clay having lifted the title in 2003 and he feels his man is ready to topple Djokovic.
“I think both players are maybe the best in the world right now,” said the Spaniard.
“Novak has the experience to play these kind of matches more than Carlos, of course, but, at the same time, Carlos really wants to play that match. He was really looking forward to that match since the beginning.
“Of course, he had to play match by match and we were very patient about it. But I think he is ready.
“He practised for these kind of matches. He practises for these kind of moments to be there and try to make history step by step.
“He wants to do it but of course we really know that Novak is going to give absolutely his best. I think he is going to fight until the last ball and he is going to prepare for the match as well as we can do.
“So we expect a really tough and close match. Carlos believes a lot in himself and he believes that he can beat Novak.”
That belief has been evident since the moment Alcaraz burst onto the global stage.
He swatted aside Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals on Tuesday evening with a display of all-court brilliance.
He can take confidence, meanwhile, from having beaten Djokovic in their only previous match, on clay in Madrid last spring, when he also defeated Rafael Nadal.
“He dreams very big about what he can do, so I think it’s one of the most important things that he believes in himself and that he believes that he can go to the court and win against everybody,” said Ferrero.
The pair have worked together since September 2018 and it has proved the dream partnership so far, with Ferrero helping the 20-year-old to hone his incredible natural talents.
“I’m impressed obviously about his level, but I’m with him now almost five years, so I know the level he’s able to play,” said the former world number one.
“So in that way, I’m not impressed at all because I know that he can play like this. The most impressive thing for me is that he is showing his best level against the best. That’s the most important thing.”
Iga Swiatek sees off Coco Gauff challenge to reach French Open semi-finals
Iga Swiatek maintained her unbeaten record against Coco Gauff in their French Open rematch to move through to the semi-finals.
The pair had met in the final 12 months ago, with Gauff winning just four games, and the American had not won a set in their six previous clashes.
The statistic remains, although Gauff at least pushed the world number one in a 6-4 6-2 defeat, and will feel she might have done better.
The 19-year-old was unable to take the few chances she had to gain the ascendancy, particularly in the second set, and Swiatek made her pay.
The top seed has lost only 15 games in five matches, and she said: “I haven’t spent much time on court so I’m happy that today was a tighter match.”
Gauff came out with different tactics to last year’s final, testing Swiatek with high, slower balls to her backhand and trying not to allow the top seed to get into a rhythm.
It worked well to a point, with Gauff quickly retrieving an early break, but Swiatek stepped up her level to clinch the set with a brilliant returning game.
Gauff’s big opportunity came in the third game of the second set when she created three break points – the third after drilling a point-blank backhand at Swiatek at the net, sending the Pole tumbling to the clay as she tried to avoid it.
Gauff swiftly apologised, but it was Swiatek who had the last laugh as the American fired shots long on each of her opportunities.
And that would prove to be the last opening, with the two-time champion winning four games in a row to book her spot in the last four once again.
There Swiatek will face Beatriz Haddad Maia, who came from a set down to defeat Ons Jabeur and become the first Brazilian woman to reach the French Open semi-finals in the open era.
After battling for nearly four hours to beat Sara Sorribes Tormo in the fourth round, the 14th seed again found herself with work to do after losing the opening set to seventh seed Jabeur.
A very tight second went to a tie-break, which Haddad Maia took, and the Brazilian ran away with the decider to win 3-6 7-6 (5) 6-1.
Haddad Maia, 27, looked utterly stunned at the moment of victory, having never previously gone beyond the fourth round at a slam.
Her results away from the majors have been very impressive, though, and she will hope to follow in the footsteps of Brazilian grand slam champions Gustavo Kuerten and Maria Bueno.
Beatriz Haddad Maia claims historic victory to reach French Open semi-finals
Beatriz Haddad Maia came from a set down to defeat Ons Jabeur and become the first Brazilian woman to reach the French Open semi-finals in the open era.
After battling for nearly four hours to beat Sara Sorribes Tormo in the fourth round, the 14th seed again found herself with work to do after losing the opening set to seventh seed Jabeur.
A very tight second went to a tie-break, which Haddad Maia took, and the Brazilian ran away with the decider to win 3-6 7-6 (5) 6-1.
Haddad Maia, 27, looked utterly stunned at the moment of victory, having never previously gone beyond the fourth round at a slam.
Her results away from the majors have been very impressive, though, and she will hope to follow in the footsteps of Brazilian grand slam champions Gustavo Kuerten and Maria Bueno.
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