French Open 2022: Unlikely stars out to stop Iga Swiatek’s rousing run in the semis-Sports News , Firstpost

It takes all sorts to make a tennis tour. And at this year’s French Open, the women’s field is left with an eclectic mix of players, all vying to knock world No 1 Iga Swiatek off her perch.

The Pole, who has looked peerless at times at Roland Garros, extended her winning streak to 33 on Wednesday. A day after turning 21, Swiatek scored a commanding 6-3, 6-2 victory over Jessica Pegula to reach the semi-finals of the French Open for the second time in her career. The last time she reached this stage, in 2020, Swiatek flew to her maiden Grand Slam victory.

A pre-tournament favourite, Swiatek, who quickly filled the void at the top left by the now-retired Ashleigh Barty, has lived up to her billing. But even for the many surprises the women’s field has thrown up at Grand Slams in recent years, this French Open stood out. For the first time in the Open Era, nine of the top-10 seeds bowed out before the fourth round, with world No 1 Swiatek the lone survivor.

Her competition at Roland Garros now? Teenage star Coco Gauff, late bloomer Martina Trevisan and resurgent artist Daria Kasatkina. All three will be making their Grand Slam semi-final debut on Thursday. Two of them – Gauff and Kasatkina—have not dropped a set yet.

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First up for Swiatek is fellow Rafael Nadal fan Kasatkina, who is finding her way back to success.

Even though the Russian has broken new ground by making the French Open semi-final, she is no novice to the big stage. Kasatkina won the French Open girls’ singles trophy in 2014 but had to move out of Russia to find better training grounds.

In an interview with the New York Times, her former coach Philippe Dehaes recalled the youngster’s early struggles. “She had no money, nothing to finance her training,” he said. “I coached a girl, Maryna Zanevska, who was getting help from this foundation, and so the people in the foundation asked me to give them a report on Daria’s abilities.” Though the scholarship never came through, Dehaes knew he had seen a special talent.

At 5’7, Kasatkina isn’t one of the tallest players on tour, but she has gained a reputation as one of the most versatile. While the 25-year-old can bring the power, she relies on her touch and guile to construct points.

She reached the quarter-finals of the French Open and Wimbledon in 2018 and a career high of No 10 in October that year. But the Russian struggled with injury and lacked motivation. With the help of her psychologist and her coaching team, she has started moving up the order again. The world No 20 has dropped the fewest games – 24— en route the last four.

So far, the red clay courts at the French Open have proven an ideal canvas for her varied strokes. She’ll have to muster all of her strengths if she’s to stop the Swiatek juggernaut. In 2022, the Pole has a commanding 3-0 match record, 6-0 set record against Kasatkina.

And all the three matches came on hard courts, before Swiatek launched into the 33-match winning streak.

Age no matter

The second women’s semi-final will pit Gauff, the youngest remaining player in the draw at 18, against 28-year-old Trevisan, who saves the best tennis of her life for the clay court Grand Slam.

Gauff and Trevisan’s careers have followed contrasting trajectories. While Gauff burst onto the stage as a 15-year-old, Trevisan’s breakthrough came at the French Open only two years ago.

Ever since she qualified for 2019 Wimbledon, as a schoolgirl, and made it all the way to the Round of 16, Gauff has been marked out for big things. She has been compared to her heroes – Serena and Venus Williams, and grown up in the spotlight, but the American remained grounded. Just before the French Open started, Gauff, born in a family of teachers, graduated from high school.

On the tennis court, a cool and collected Gauff has scored her best Grand Slam result. The teenager scored an impressive 7-5, 6-2 win over 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the quarter-final on Tuesday to make the final four for the very first time.

Coco Gauff celebrates after defeating fellow American Sloane Stephens in the quarter-finals of the 2022 French Open. AP

Her next opponent, Trevisan, has lived in obscurity for most of her professional life.

A promising junior, the Italian lost her way after her father was diagnosed with a degenerative disease. She battled anorexia during her teenage years and was forced to take a break from tennis from 2010 to 2014.

“I hated my muscular body and imposed on myself diets on the verge of survival to lose weight,” Trevisan wrote in The Owl Post.

“Thirty grams of cereals and a fruit in the evening. It was enough for me to stand up, and to worry my mother, who ran to pick peaches from the trees just to see me eat something.

“Fortunately, having reached the point of no return, I realised that I could not go on like this. I had lost all interest, I had closed myself in my cocoon, in a state of apathy in which I no longer even recognised myself. I was re-educated to eat, to make peace with my wounds.”

She slowly made her way up the ranks. In a stunning run at the 2020 French Open, Trevisan went from qualifier to Grand Slam quarter-finalist. One of her prized scalps that year was young Coco Gauff.

Trevisan, however, was not able to sustain that level. She began 2021 with seven defeats on the trot and finished the season with only three wins from 19 matches.

The Florence native played herself into form for the French Open by winning her first WTA title in Rabat, Morocco. In Paris, she was drawn in the same quarter as Ons Jabeur, Amanda Anisimova, Belinda Bencic, Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu. But the world No 59 benefitted from the first-week carnage and overcame an injured but inspired Leylah Fernandez in the quarter-final.

Despite their apparent differences, the two women have underlined the importance of finding happiness this week. “I think the importance is, who I am right now, that I’m happy on the court. I’m doing what I love,” said Trevisan.

A sagely Gauff echoed her views during the on-court interview. “I think even last year I was too focused on trying to fulfil other people’s expectations,” the 18th seed said after her quarter-final win. “Your job or how much money you make doesn’t define you as a person…if you love yourself, who cares what anyone else thinks.”

Having earned their moment, they might as well enjoy it.

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