Quick takes on the Paris women's semifinalists

Thursday's Roland Garros women's semifinals are set: Iga Swiatek will take on Nadia Podoroska followed by Sofia Kenin against Petra Kvitova.

Swiatek and Podoroska have never played each other or been a major semifinal, while two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova has a 2-0 record over 2020 Australian Open victor Kenin.

Let's take a look at how each woman got here:

1

Iga Swiatek

Age: 19

Ranking: No. 54

Best previous Paris run: Fourth round, 2019

Road to the semis: No. 15 Marketa Vondrousova, Hsieh Su-Wei, Eugenie Bouchard, No. 1 Simona Halep, Martina Trevisan

Fast fact: She's trying to become the second Pole after Agnieszka Radwanska to reach a Grand Slam final.

Tournament highlight: She had never before gone beyond the fourth round of a major and now has done so without the loss of a set, including a 6-1, 6-2 dismissal of top seed Halep. Oh, and she's into the doubles semifinals with Nicole Melichar, also without the loss of a set.

2

Nadia Podoroska

Age: 23

Ranking: No. 131

Best previous Paris run: Making her debut

Road to the semis: Magdalena Frech, Jaqueline Cristian, Wang Xinyu, Greet Minnen, No. 23 Yulia Putintseva, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Barbora Krejcikova, No. 3 Elina Svitolina

Fast fact: She's the first women's qualifier to ever reach the semifinals at Roland Garros.

Tournament highlight: Her straight-set win over Svitolina marked her first career Top-20 victory and her first time ever playing a Top-10 player.

3

Petra Kvitova

Age: 30

Ranking: No. 11

Best previous Paris run: Semifinals, 2011

Road to the semis: Oceane Dodin, Jasmine Paolini, Leyla Fernandez, Zhang Shaui, Laura Siegemund

Fast Fact: Kvitova has yet to drop a set and has also yet to face a seeded player.

Tournament highlight: After beating Zhang to reach the quarterfinals, Kvitova got emotional thinking back to her first match in Court Philippe-Chatrier in 2017—which was less than six months after a home invasion left her with a severely injured dominant hand.

4

Sofia Kenin

Age: 21

Ranking: No. 6

Best previous Paris run: Fourth round, 2019

Road to the semis: Ludmilla Samsonova, Ana Bogdan, Irina Bara, Fiona Ferro, Danielle Collins

Fast Fact: Though seeded the highest of the remaining players, Kenin has lost the most sets (3).

Tournament highlight: In three previous meetings Kenin had never beaten Collins and lost to her in straight sets in January. On Wednesday, she'd run away with the match, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.