Iga Swiatek has reached yet another French Open semi-final, where she will be reunited with Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka loves her battles with Swiatek, with the latest pitting the WTA number one against the three-time defending champion at Roland Garros.
Along with winning the last three French Open titles, Swiatek has won four of the last five at the clay court Grand Slam.
Swiatek has been told to improve in order to beat Sabalenka, who is the top seed at the tournament, where the Pole is the fifth.
The Belarusian beat Qinwen Zheng 7-6(7-3), 6-3 to reach the last four, with Swiatek having beaten Elina Svitolina 6-1, 7-5 in their quarter-final.
Iga Swiatek says what was ‘crazy’ about her French Open win over Elina Svitolina
But despite the scoreline, it certainly wasn’t a straightforward win for the former world number one, who discussed the difficult conditions after the match.
Swiatek said in her press conference: “I think the worst wind I ever experienced was at Wimbledon but maybe also because it was hard for me to find solutions there on grass anyway and the wind threw me off. It was just a little bit worse in my head.
“Today was difficult. I have never played in such a wind. In the first set it was fine but in the second set it got pretty crazy.
“Honestly, when I played against the wind, or she did, we just had to stop for a second because there was so much clay in the air that you could not keep your eyes open.
“So I never had that here. But in the first set it wasn’t that bad and I think it kind of slowed down at the end of the match.”
Iga Swiatek vs Aryna Sabalenka head-to-head before French Open clash
Swiatek and Sabalenka have built up quite the rivalry in recent years, with the latter undoubtedly the in-form player in 2025.
The Belarusian star already has three WTA titles to her name, and sits at the top of the pile in the world rankings.
Polish ace Swiatek meanwhile has fallen to fifth place in the rankings, and has yet to win a title in the 2025 season so far.
But history is very much on her side when it comes to her head-to-head with Sabalenka, which should give her confidence for their latest match.
The duo have met a total of 12 times on the WTA Tour, with Swiatek boasting eight wins compared to the four of her rival.
Six of those meetings have arrived on clay courts, most recently when Swiatek beat Sabalenka in the 2024 Italian Open final.
It remains to be seen what the conditions will be like for their highly anticipated reunion in the French capital.
But a thriller is certainly on the cards, with those watching on inside Court Philippe-Chatrier set for a memorable experience.
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