PARIS: World number one Iga Swiatek shook off some early nerves to extend her winning series to a staggering 33 as she beat American Jessica Pegula 6-3 6-2 to book her spot in the French Open semi-finals on Wednesday.
Swiatek, who turned 21 on Tuesday, is on the longest unbeaten run in the women's tour since Serena Williams bagged 34 victories in succession in 2013.
The Polish player, gunning for a second title in three years at Roland Garros, appeared a tad shaky in the initial games before marching past the 11th seed to set up a meeting with Russian Daria Kasatkina for a place in Saturday's final.
The 2020 champion is bidding to become the fourth player since 2000 to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup multiple times after Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
Daria Kasatkina beat fellow Russian Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 7-6(5) to reach her first ever Grand Slam semi-final.
Kudermetova, playing in front of a scarce crowd, peppered the vast Philippe Chatrier stands with the ball and ultimately paid the price for a scrappy performance with 50 unforced errors - double that of Kasatkina.
"She was playing very low so to be good I had to be low on my legs. It was the key and I'm pretty happy I was playing with a good dynamic to push her back a little bit," said Swiatek on a sunbathed, yet windswept court Philippe Chatrier.
"Sometimes stress is a positive thing, it's going to make you more active and more tense so you can play a good performance. So I tried to use it that way." Agencies
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