Iga Swiatek continued her march toward a second French Open title in three years when she demolished Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-1 to reach the final and tie Serena Williams for the second-longest winning streak of this century.
Swiatek’s 34th win in a row puts her one victory away from both her second Roland Garros title and matching Venus Williams for the longest streak on the tour since 2000.
Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion, has not lost since February and has dropped only two sets in her past four tournaments.
The world No. 1 conceded an early break Thursday, but from 2-2 in the opener, Swiatek dropped only three points the rest of the first set, using her heavy forehand, quick-strike ability and all-court excellence to seize control with a five-game run. She then won the last nine points and clinched the victory with her only ace of the 64-minute match.
The 20th-seeded Kasatkina, a first-time Grand Slam semifinalist, has two career wins over reigning No. 1 players but hit 24 unforced errors to Swiatek’s 13. Swiatek finished with 22 winners, more than twice as many as Kasatkina’s 10.
She will meet either American teenager Coco Gauff, the 18th seed, or Italy’s Martina Trevisan in Saturday’s final. With a win, Swiatek, who turned 21 on Tuesday, would become only the fourth woman in the Open era (since 1968) to win multiple French Open titles at age 21 or younger, joining Monica Seles (who won 3), Steffi Graf and Chris Evert.
Swiatek again played with a ribbon in the colors of the Ukrainian flag pinned to her hat while facing her Russian opponent. Swiatek improved to 41-3 this season with four of the wins coming against Kasatkina.
She has now won her past 13 contests against foes in the top 20 in the WTA rankings, conceding one set along the way.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.