The defending women's singles champion Iga Swiatek will face Jasmine Paolini in the final of the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Saturday.

On Thursday the Polish world number one, Swiatek, wasted no time in beating the third seeded Coco Gauff of the USA 6-2 and 6-4 in the first semi-final.

The Italian pocket-rocket Paolini in turn was ruthless in the second set as she beat the 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva 6-3 and 6-1 to reach a Grand Slam final for the first time.

Paolini said it wasn’t easy being the player who eliminated Aryna Sabalenka the day before, but she is delighted to be able to live the dream and play in a Grand Slam final.

“I'm super happy - it was a tough match,” said Paolini.

“She's playing unbelievable, she's only 17-years-old, she's so complete. I was a little bit nervous before the match.

“I lost to her a couple of months ago and I told myself I had to play better. Ball-after-ball I was getting more relaxed. It's tough to stay relaxed at this stage. I just hit the ball, enjoyed it, it worked, so I'm really happy.”

On facing the world number, Swiatek, in the final the 28-year-old Italian said it’s her consistency that makes the defending champions such a tough opponent to compete against.

“It can happen in tennis, every week is different, every week is a new challenge, so it's not easy to confirm your result every week.

“Just few players can do that. It's unbelievable what the top players, like Iga, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner are doing. It's something crazy.”

Meanwhile, on Friday it’s the men’s semi-finals day on Court Philippe-Chatrier – at approximately 14:30 the third seeded Carlos Alcaraz will face the second seeded Jannik Sinner in the first semi-finals. The second semi-final will see the seventh seeded Casper Ruud up against the fourth seeded Alexander Zverev.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport