No stopping Iga Swiatek as she sets up French Open semi-final clash with Daria Kasatkina

World No 1 beats Pegula 6-3, 6-2 as winning streak extends to 33 matches

Iga Swiatek on her way to a straight-sets victory over Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals of the 2022 French Open at Roland Garros. Getty

Iga Swiatek sailed into the French Open semi-finals after beating Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-2 at Roland Garros on Wednesday.

The Pole continued her seemingly unstoppable march to a second Grand Slam title by sweeping aside the American 11th seed and extending her win streak to 33 matches.

Swiatek will equal Venus Williams' record for the longest unbeaten run for a women's player in the 21st century if she secures another Roland Garros crown this week.

Behind the 21-year-old top seed, Pegula was the highest ranked player left in the tournament. Daria Kasatkina, seeded 20th, meets Swiatek in the last four after her 6-4, 7-6, win over Veronika Kudermetova.

Swiatek, who won the Paris title in 2020, said: “The atmosphere is great. I’m pretty happy I can play here and I’ve had so many matches because it’s always a great experience on Philippe-Chatrier.

“It’s always nervous but sometimes stress is a positive thing that can make you more active, more tense, so I try to use it.

“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.

“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.”

Russia's Kasatkina advanced to her first Grand Slam semi-final after her win over countrywoman Kudermetova.

Kasatkina’s two previous Slam quarter-finals resulted in losses to Sloane Stephens at Roland Garros and Angelique Kerber at Wimbledon – both in 2018.

“Everything happens for the first time and I'm really happy to be in the semis,” Kasatkina said. “Dream coming true and everything is fine.

“It was tough to manage because basically I wanted to win a lot, and in these moments you feel like the win is slipping out of your hands.”

Next up on Thursday, though, is the relentless world No 1. “Tomorrow is another mountain in front of me which I have to climb,” Kasatkina added. “Maybe it's even better that I don't have much time to think about how good [it] is to be in the semi-finals, so I have another battle tomorrow.”