Rome (AFP)
Czech Karolina Pliskova (9th in the world) will play her third final in three years at the Rome tennis tournament on Sunday, with the young Polish Iga Swiatek (15th) facing her, the surprise winner of Roland-Garros last year.
Sacred in 2019 on Roman clay, then finalist last year, beaten by Romanian Simona Halep, Pliskova logically dominated on Saturday in the semi-finals Croatian Petra Martic (25th) 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 , despite a slump in the second set.
"I feel very relaxed here. It will be almost two weeks since I am here. The balls, the courts, the successes that I have had in the past, it all comes together," she explained. .
"I have also worked hard in recent weeks. Everything has combined well this week, with a little luck with the match points saved" Friday in the quarter-finals against Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (49th), a t -she adds.
The only member of the Top 10 who reached the last four, the 29-year-old Czech will have a hard time facing Sunday Iga Swiatek, 20 in two weeks, who flew over Roland-Garros last fall.
The Polish won her very first WTA Tour title in Paris and has since added another to her record at the start of the year in Adelaide, Australia.
She gave herself a perfect Saturday with two wins in two races.
She first dominated at the end of the morning Elina Svitolina (6th), double winner in Rome (2017 and 2018), 6-2, 7-5 in the last quarter-final, postponed Friday due to the rain.
Then she continued in the afternoon against Coco Gauff, 17 (35th world) 7-6, 6-3.
The young American, 17, took advantage of Friday in the quarter-finals of the abandonment on injury of the No. 1 world, the Australian Ashleigh Barty.
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