Swiatek Dominates Svitolina, Reaches French Open Semis

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Iga Swiatek booked the first semifinal ticket in the ongoing French Open women’s singles tournament after blanking Elina Svitolina- 6.1, 7.5- on June 3, 2025, at the Court Philippe Chatrier in Roland Garros.

After escaping Elena Rybakina in a tightly-contested three-set showdown in the fourth round, Swiatek knew she was to be tested again against the world no. 13 WTA player from Ukraine.

However, the chess match in the fourth round proved to be a building block for Swiatek as the three-time French Open champion reversed predictions and turned the quarterfinal game into a lopsided affair.

Swiatek immediately gained her footing in the opening set after bullying Svitolina with her deep top-spin groundstrokes, backstopped by her more consistent service game that went flat against Rybakina.

The Polish stalwart didn’t settle for long rally exchanges and picked her spots by finishing the volley on the fifth hit, iced by either a booming forehand or a backhand winner placed at Svitolina’s wide side.

After back-to-back service breaks, Swiatek cruised to her final service hold point and didn’t give any freebie away as she disposed Svitolina with a one-sided 6-1 first-set victory.

Just when Swiatek thought that her baseline-oriented offense could sustain her through the match, Svitolina woke up midway through the second and fired demoralizing lobs that forced the defending champion to move up to the net area.

With this strategy, Svitolina was able to take out Swiatek’s comfort zone, which was behind the line, and turned her into a net attacker.

That move paid off as it helped Svitolina in keeping herself within striking distance but another Swiatek avalanche in the final three game sets officially changed the complexion of the game.

To counter Svitolina’s net lure, Swiatek attacked the first ball on-hand with a vicious top-spin, and didn’t allow a reset when she followed it up with a barrage of down-the-line game-winning points.

This adjustment forced Svitolina to stay in her perimeter in the baseline, and fired loose return strokes en route to a Swiatek win in the playoffs.

The victory kept Swiatek’s bid for a fourth straight French Open title, but a familiar tough opponent will be standing her way in the semis, Aryna Sabalenka.