The women’s singles semifinals are on Thursday in Paris, as are the men’s doubles semifinals, and the championship match in mixed doubles.
In a rematch of the 2022 championship match in women’s singles, three-time champion Iga Swiatek faces reigning US Open champ Coco Gauff in the semifinals. Swiatek has dominated this rivalry to date. Can Gauff challenge Swiatek on Thursday?
And in a shocking turn of events, the other women’s singles semifinal does not feature Aryna Sabalenka or Elena Rybakina. The players that upset them on Wednesday, Mirra Andreeva and Jasmine Paolini, square off against each other on Thursday, with the winner reaching their first Major final.
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Coco Gauff (4) – Not Before 3:00pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
They have played 11 times across the last three years, and Swiatek has taken 10 of those 11 matches, with all 10 wins coming in straight sets. Gauff’s sole victory came last summer on a fast-playing hard court in the American’s home country. In their four meetings on clay, Iga has taken all eights sets, by scores of 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3. This is the third consecutive year they’re meeting at Roland Garros, after playing in the final two years ago, and the quarterfinals in 2023.
Swiatek is a superb 43-4 on the year, and 19-1 on clay, with her only loss on this surface taking place indoors against Elena Rybakina in Stuttgart. Just three weeks ago in Rome, Iga defeated Coco in the semifinals of Rome. Swiatek has dropped only one set to this stage, against Naomi Osaka in their thrilling second round contest.
Gauff has also lost just one set, to Ons Jabeur in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. Coco is 30-8 this season, and 12-3 on clay. However, she has not advanced to the final of any tournament since the very first week of the year in Auckland.
Much like Jabeur had to play high-risk tennis to challenge Gauff in the last round, Coco will have to do the same against Iga on Thursday. But as we saw on Tuesday with Jabeur, sustaining a high level of high-risk tennis across two sets is a tall order. Swiatek does not have any notable weaknesses on this surface, and based on her history against Gauff, Iga is a considerable favorite to achieve her fourth championship match in Paris.
Jasmine Paolini (12) Mirra Andreeva – Last on Court Philippe-Chatrier
Paolini and Andreeva both played quite well in their Major quarterfinal debuts on Wednesday, and took full advantage of both Rybakina and Sabalenka lacking their best tennis. The composure of Jasmine and Mirra in the biggest matches of their careers to date, and against such imposing opposition, was most impressive. But which is ready to win the biggest match of their careers again just a day later?
Prior to 2024, Paolini had never advanced beyond the second round of a Major. But she broke through in Melbourne, reaching the second week, and followed that up with a surprising WTA 1000 title in Dubai. And now, the 28-year-old Italian is a Major semifinalist, thanks to winning back-to-back-to-back three-setters in the last three rounds. Facing one of the WTA’s best servers on Wednesday, she broke Rybakina seven times.
17-year-old Andreeva is the youngest Major semifinalist since Martina Hingis in 1997. This is just her fifth appearance at a Major, and she’s now 14-4 at this level. Mirra dropped two sets to this stage, and came from a set down against Sabalenka on Wednesday. As highlighted by Christopher Clarey on Twitter, Andreeva is already in the WTA top 8 in regards to return points won as well as return games won.
Their only prior encounter took place just a month ago in Madrid, which saw Andreeva prevail after two tight sets. On such a big stage, which is so new to both players, I like the aggressive-minded teenager to defeat Paolini again on Thursday. Her return game is a bit more imposing than Jasmine’s, and Mirra’s groundstrokes are a bit more penetrating.
Other Notable Matches on Thursday:
Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski (4) vs. Laura Siegemund and Edouard Roger-Vasselin (2) – This is the mixed doubles championship match. Krawczyk and Skupski have won two Major titles as a team, and were finalists at this year’s Australian Open. Siegemund won the 2016 US Open mixed doubles title with a different partner (Mate Pavic), while Roger-Vasselin is playing for his first mixed doubles glory at a Major, and at his home Slam.
Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori (11) vs. Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden (2) – This semifinal is a rematch of the championship match from the last Major, when Bopanna and Ebden defeated Bolelli and Vavassori in two tight sets.
Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic (9) – Prior to this fortnight, the Tsitsipas brothers had never advanced beyond the second round of a Major as a team, but they upset the defending champions on the way to this semifinal. But Arevalo and Pavic are the winningest men’s doubles team of the past month, having taken 11 of their last 12 matches.
Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.
