All for one: Iga Swiatek continues Roland Garros domination with return to final in Paris

WATCH: Swiatek meets the press after reaching her second major final at Roland Garros.

The Iga Swiatek Express continued its high-octane journey today. Versus 20th-seeded Daria Kasatkina, the world No. 1 was in thorough command, taking just 64 minutes to win their Roland Garros semi, 6-2, 6-1. The victory puts Swiatek in the finals here for the second time. The first came two years ago, when Swiatek, then ranked 54 in the world, won the title. It’s all quite different now, Swiatek currently on a 34-match winning streak.

View what happened first from the vantage point of the defeated. Kasatkina’s game is a tennis connoisseur’s delight. Armed with a wide range of speeds, spins and nimble movements, Kasatkina feels her way into a match, a form of cumulative disruption in the vein of such tactical masterminds as Agnieszka Radwanska and Martina Hingis. In a great many situations, Kasatkina is able to methodically probe her opponent’s game like a dentist and soon enough uncover soft spots.

But where was Swiatek’s cavity? Serving at 0-1 in the first set, Kasatkina labored through a 14-point game, only to eventually drop her serve. Though Kasatkina broke back in the next game and held for 2-all, from that point on, there was little she could do to derail Swiatek. “I think also Iga was a little bit nervous at the beginning,” said Kasatkina. “I was 2-0 down, then I was able to get the score tied to 2-all, and I think at this point if I could put the gear up, I think that would be, that could make the difference. But she was more stable in this moment, so she corrected better than me. Then she turned the match her side.”

Off both sides, with angles, pace and, most of all, depth, Swiatek repeatedly pinned Kasatkina, depriving her of any breathing room. As if the Swiatek forehand wasn’t lethal enough, she closed out the first set by cracking a sharply angled crosscourt backhand return. That was but one of 21 Swiatek winners hit over the course of the match (to only 13 unforced errors). “She is reaching a lot of balls,” said Kasatkina. “I mean, even some of the balls that you are thinking that the point is over, she's still there, and she's taking the ball pretty early, which makes it really tough. Yeah, it's difficult when the player is moving good and then she can transit this to attack mode. Then it's make it really, really tough.”

I'm even more happy with the performance than after the previous match because I feel like my game is getting more and more solid. I can really loosen up when I'm getting advantage and when I'm having a break, so that's great. I feel like I'm playing better every match. Iga Swiatek

Swiatek only accelerated the pace in the second set. From 1-all, she lost just three points, ending it with an ace. “Well, for sure I'm even more happy with the performance than after the previous match,” said Swiatek, “because I feel like my game is getting more and more solid. I can really loosen up when I'm getting advantage and when I'm having a break, so that's great. I feel like I'm playing better every match.”

Just after the match, Swiatek participated in an on-court ceremony honoring Billie Jean King, who 50 years ago this year won her only Roland-Garros singles title. “Pressure is a privilege,” is one of King’s signature sayings. We hear constantly of the many ways players handle pressure, ranging from mid-match rituals to practice routines to off-court diversions.

One way Swiatek has managed pressure is to make tennis a collaborative effort, to the point of having the words “Team Swiatek” on her shoes. Swiatek frequently praises her support group, including coach Tomasz Wiktorowski and psychologist Daria Ambramowicz. “It's just cool that I have people around that I trust, and I can, you know, just talk about some stuff over lunch,” said Swiatek. “But for sure the pep talks that I have before the match are really helpful, both from the coach and both from Daria. We already have this kind of routine that is working perfectly, and we are trying to hold on to that.”

A reader of literary classics, following the match, Swiatek told Tennis Channel’s Jon Wertheim what book she will be reading prior to Saturday’s final. Given her approach, it’s fitting that she cited the iconic French work, The Three Musketeers. That book’s signature passage: “All for one and one for all.”