On Thursday, Iga Świątek moved into her first French Open final after defeating Daria Kasatkina 6–2, 6–1. Świątek will face off against Coco Gauff, who advanced to her first Grand Slam final after defeating Martina Trevisan 6–3, 6–1. Sports Illustrated staffers Jon Wertheim and Chris Almeida discuss what it took for each player to reach the Roland Garros final and what’s at stake with a title on the line.
Chris Almeida: So we’re here on Thursday morning American time, Thursday evening Paris time coming off the French Open women’s semifinals. And despite a first week filled with upsets, we’re getting a high-profile final. We’ve got the hottest player in all of tennis, in Iga Świątek, and the, well, it’s not even accurate to call her a recent phenom at this point: Coco Gauff.
Jon Wertheim: You’ve got one player on a 34-match winning streak, and, if she wins the final, she’ll be tied with Venus Williams for the longest win streak in the last quarter century. And then you have Gauff, who is just an absolute joy—a player in ascent, a person in ascent. I don’t think this could have gone much better for her. She has this big breakthrough three years ago and then she doesn’t disappear, but she doesn’t start winning majors. But she had a steady climb, and now it seems like she’s ready. It’s only her 11th major. So it took her a couple of years, but now she’s here.
