We are down to the final four players in both the Men's and Women's draws at the French Open and that means the remaining four days will be used to highlight those individuals with the Women playing on Thursday and Saturday and the Men out on Friday and Sunday.
With the roof available in Paris, the tournament should be played without any remaining concerns and we look like we are going to see four good days of Tennis at Roland Garros.
On Day 12 we have both Women's Semi Final matches played back to back.
Iga Swiatek - 4.5 games v Nadia Podoroska: I was a little harsh on Nadia Podoroska while watching her win over Elina Svitolina with not another credit given to the Qualifier for the way she dictated the tempo of the match against a top ten opponent. There really is nothing to lose for Podoroska in her maiden Grand Slam Semi Final and I have to believe that she is going to be full of belief that she has the game on this surface to work her way through to one of the more surprising runs we would have seen in a number of years.
It has been more than twenty years since a Women's Qualifier last made it through to the Semi Final and none have ever gone a step further and reached a Final.
That is the challenge in front of Nadia Podoroska, although she doesn't have a 'big name' in front of her which should make it easier to get her teeth into the match.
In saying that, Iga Swiatek has long been a player that has been tipped up to reach the top of the Women's game and at 19 years old she could spark her career by picking up a Grand Slam title already. There hasn't been anything to suggest that the Polish player was ready to do that before the French Open began, but she has been in imperious form in the tournament and she better the Nadia Podoroska win over Elina Svitolina having beaten Simona Halep in the Fourth Round.
Iga Swiatek dismissed a Qualifier in the Quarter Final so handled the sense of expectation around her following the upset over Halep previously. That is testament to the character of the player and Swiatek has been returning well enough to put Nadia Podoroska under some pressure.
The real test is going to be when Podoroska is returning as no one has been able to contain her aggressive style for any length of time. The Argentinian has won at least 51% of points on the return in each of her matches in the main draw and Nadia Podoroska has found at least six breaks of serve in each of her last four matches even when the competition has supposedly increased.
She has always been a pretty decent returner on the clay courts, although the majority of the numbers have been produced against players Ranked outside the top 100. Prior to this tournament, Nadia Podoroska was just 1-8 in matches against top 100 Ranked opponents on the clay courts and she was winning just 37% of return points played, but she won 53% of the return points in the win over Yulia Putintseva and a monster 64% against the Elina Svitolina serve.
In the main Iga Swiatek has been serving pretty well at the French Open though and I do think that is going to be important for her here. The youngster should not be concerned about finding the breaks of serve she is going to need having produced at least four breaks of serve in every match played in Paris and having won at least 51% of return points played in each of those herself.
This feels like a match that could have a number of breaks both ways, but I do think Iga Swiatek is the more talented player and her extra success on her own serve could prove to be the difference. Mentally it is going to be about avoiding thinking too far ahead with a place at a Slam Final on the line, but the young player has shown she can control her emotions even when others may panic and I think that sets Iga Swiatek for a win on the day.
I had to be impressed by the way Nadia Podoroska played in her win in the Quarter Final, but she it does feel like the extra quality on the other side of the net is going to be too much for her to overcome this time.
Petra Kvitova - 3.5 games v Sofia Kenin: After watching Sofia Kenin fail to win a game in her double bagel defeat to Victoria Azarenka in Rome, not many would have tipped the Australian Open Champion to have a deep run at the French Open. Any player can have a bad day in the office like Kenin had last month, but she has never really shown an appreciation of the red dirt and so it was expected that someone would be too good for her long before now.
Instead Sofia Kenin continues to show why she is a Grand Slam Champion as she refuses to be beaten even when things have gone against her. For the fourth time in five matches in Paris the American has needed three sets to earn victory and she has twice come from a set down to turn matches in her favour.
You have to respect that and you also have to respect the fact that Sofia Kenin has been producing arguably her best clay court tennis of her career over the last twelve days. The numbers back that up in the last three Rounds as Sofia Kenin has played well on both the serve and return aspects of her game and there will be a confidence in her game having won the Australian Open unexpectedly earlier this season.
That will make her believe in herself even when others have not and you do have to make sure you don't underestimate her chances here.
However, Sofia Kenin has played a lot of tennis already in Paris and it is tough conditions to be out there for as long as she has. Going into this Semi Final, Kenin has spent almost nine hours on the court and that is almost two hours more than her opponent Petra Kvitova.
That does not sound a lot, but it is something to consider while the other point to make here is that Petra Kvitova has shown a lot more as a clay court player than Sofia Kenin in recent seasons. Even at this tournament you would give Petra Kvitova the edge having won all of her matches in straight sets and her numbers behind serve have been stronger than what the American has been able to produce.
The strengths of the two players are going against each other with Kenin's return being a key part of her successes, but I do think Petra Kvitova has proven to be the more consistent clay court player at this stage of their career. She will need to serve well to keep Kenin under pressure and in their previous matches Kvitova has been able to do enough on that shot to then open up the return game.
You can sometimes be critical of Petra Kvitova's return as she can be a touch too aggressive on it, but I do think she will be able to play first strike tennis in this one. Sofia Kenin has not been as consistent on the serve and Kvitova has been returning very well in her five matches played and I think that is going to give her the edge in the second Semi Final.
This will easily be the most difficult match Petra Kvitova will have had in Paris this year, but I think she will do just enough on the serve to be in a position to put another straight sets win in the books. I don't think Sofia Kenin will fall away as bafflingly easily as she did in Rome against Azarenka, but I do think the Czech lefty will reach another Grand Slam Final and with a good looking win on the board.
MY PICKS: Iga Swiatek - 4.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (2 Units)
Petra Kvitova - 3.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Fred (2 Units)
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