Swiatek* 6-2, 5-4 Gauff
Gauff sees Swiatek’s winner on the previous point and raises it with a winner of her own … advantage Gauff … but Gauff then hits beyond the baseline! Chris Evert reckons Swiatek is winning about three-quarters of the longer rallies. Gauff could do with a couple of quick points here. The next one is speedy – but it doesn’t end in her favour, because she nets. Advantage Swiatek, a second match point. Swiatek misdirects her forehand! Deuce. Advantage Gauff. GAME GAUFF! THIS MATCH ISN’T ENDING JUST YET!
So Gauff must hold here to remain in this semi-final. It starts well for her. 15-0, 30-0. But then there’s a vicious forehand from Swiatek – Gauff has barely finished her swing when Swiatek takes the ball on the rise and cracks it back, giving Gauff absolutely no time to breathe – 30-15. 40-15, after a second uncharacteristic mis-hit in this game from Swiatek. 40-30. Again just as Gauff thinks she’s getting away, Swiatek reels her back in. Deuce.
That’s 35 unforced errors from Gauff now compared with Swiatek’s 12 – if you can call Gauff’s unforced errors given her formidable opponent. And a 36th of the affair gives Swiatek her first match point. The pair go down the middle, then cross-court, then down the middle, and Gauff saves her best until nearly last with a gutsy inside-out forehand winner! Deuce. Advantage Gauff courtesy of a stinging serve down the middle. Deuce, as the game reaches nearly eight minutes …
That’s three games in a row for Swiatek, after Gauff had led 3-1, as the three-times champion restores order in her Philippe Chatrier kingdom. The King of Clay may be no more – but we’re watching the Queen of Clay here. Swiatek moves within a game of her third successive Roland Garros final when Gauff can only send her return into the net. Make that four games in a row.
Oh no. The tension in this set has been building nicely but is in danger of a quicker than expected ending when Gauff goes 0-15, 0-30, 0-40 down. Three break points. Gauff’s ball sits up … Swiatek smashes … Gauff retrieves … but Swiatek makes no mistake with the second smash! Swiatek is a set and a break ahead and just two games from another French Open final.
At 15-all on Swiatek’s serve, Swiatek strikes a cross-court forehand winner. She liked that, she did. A rare show of emotion from someone who’s usually so calm on court. That shows how much she’s being tested by Gauff here. Swiatek is left stranded at the net on game point, 40-15, as Gauff threads a winner down the line. 40-30. Game, when Swiatek jams the serve into Gauff’s body and Gauff can only ram into the net.
Gauff is fist pumping. Her box are on their feet. But they’re celebrating a little too soon, because Swiatek has the chance for an immediate break back at 30-40. Gauff misses with her first serve, lands the second, but her forehand then clips the tape and loops into the tramlines.
Controversy at 0-15 on Swiatek’s serve. The umpire overrules a serve in and then gives the Pole the point, even though the call seemed to come while Gauff was hitting the return.
“I didn’t even finish my follow through, I have the right to finish my swing,” Gauff says to the umpire. “He called it before I hit it. The fans are booing because they know you’re wrong. I have to right to finish my swing.”
I think she’s right here. They should play a let. Gauff is in tears. But maybe this will give Gauff the fire she needs. 15-30. Gauff then biffs a backhand long and wipes away another tear. 30-all. But here’s a break point! 30-40. Swiatek smacks her forehand one way and then the other. Deuce. Advantage Swiatek. Deuce. Advantage Gauff. An absorbing rally ensues, the pair are really testing each other here, and Gauff gets it with a forehand that Swiatek can’t direct back into play!
Another thing that Gauff has going for her is her mentality – her forehand may be fragile but her strong mind helps make up for it. She won’t be affected by losing the first set – as she showed when she came from a set down against Ons Jabeur in the quarter-final. Gauff’s found a way this year to scrap and grind out wins when not at her best – winning ugly, as her coach Brad Gilbert would say. But Swiatek just isn’t missing here. She’s hit only 7 unforced errors to Gauff’s 25. And she holds here to 15.
Leave a Reply