French Open champion Iga Swiatek wins twice in a day to set up Rome final with Karolina Pliskova
French Open champion Iga Swiatek wins her Internazionali BNL d'Italia quarter-final and semi-final matches in straight sets on the same day to set up a title clash with ninth-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova
Saturday 15 May 2021 21:00, UK
Iga Swiatek warmed up for her French Open title defence with two wins in a day to set up a Internazionali BNL d'Italia final against Karolina Pliskova in Rome.
Swiatek's quarter-final match against two-time champion Elina Svitolina was postponed due to rain on Friday but the 19-year-old made short work of her more experienced opponent with a 6-2 7-5 win to set up a semi-final clash with Coco Gauff.
Swiatek then moved into her first WTA 1000 final with a convincing 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory over the 17-year-old American.
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Poland's Swiatek, ranked 15th in the world, will be playing for a spot in the top 10 when she faces Pliskova on Sunday.
"I knew it's going to be tough," she said. "Before my match with Elina, I wasn't really thinking about what's going to happen after.
"I was kind of searching for my game still, even though it was a quarter-final."
Swiatek was unhappy about the scheduling, saying: "I started worrying about the semi-final right after I finished basically. Kind of mad that I couldn't even celebrate.
"I told myself there's nothing I can do about it, I have no influence. I was pretty surprised that we're going to be scheduled at 4pm because the men's semi-final was at 6pm. It's a new experience for me.
"I tried to approach this in a positive way because I knew that I'm in a good rhythm and I'm playing really good tennis. I'm ready."
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Former world No 1 Pliskova, who won the 2019 tournament and finished runner-up to Simona Halep here last year after retiring with an injury, reached the final for the third straight year after beating Croatian Petra Martic 6-1 3-6 6-2.
Speaking about her opponent in the final, Czech ace Pliskova said of Swiatek: "I think she's super tough on clay - she has a great game for clay. She makes it ugly and difficult for the opponents.
"I think she was also struggling a bit this week. When you get some wins when you are matchpoint down or something, it gives you extra strength. [It] happened to me and happened to her. We have both had that match in this week.
"She's a champion of Roland Garros last year. It's not going to be easy."
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