Swiatek takes first loss of Paris fortnight in doubles semifinal

On Friday, Iga Swiatek took her first loss of the fortnight when she and Nicole Melichar fell to Desirae Krawczyk and Alexa Guarachi, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-4, in the Roland Garros semifinals.

Swiatek had yet to lose a set in singles or doubles, and now Guarachi and Krawczyk move into their first-ever Grand Slam final. Awaiting them will be multiple Grand Slam champions Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic.

Swiatek ended up paired with Melichar after Melichar's New York partner Xu Yifan struggled to get a visa. Melichar and Xu had reached the Western & Southern Open and US Open finals together, so Swiatek was not expecting the call up, or text.

"Basically she approach me, which was amazing for me, because I never would have thought that a player like that would text me," Swiatek said.

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It turns out that Melichar was impressed by the youngster when they faced off in the Western & Southern Open semifinals (she and Xu would beat Swiatek and her partner Viktoria Kuzmova).

In Friday's marathon match, Swiatek would get a little frustrated with her game at times, explaining that she feels more pressure in doubles because she's playing for someone else.

"I wasn't playing the whole match bad, but I feel like I didn't use every chance that I had," she said. "So basically that was the reason I got frustrated little bit. But I'm going to be OK on singles. Singles is totally different story."

In the singles final on Saturday, she will take on No. 4-seeded Sofia Kenin. They have faced off only once, in the 2016 junior French Open. Just four years later, they will battle for the Suzanne-Lenglen cup.

The 19-year-old Pole has been very candid about what she's been feeling throughout the tournament, and so it only makes sense she's preparing for both possible outcomes.

"I feel like I'm ready," she said. "I also feel like I don't have to win. I'm pretty OK with both scenarios. Of course it's going to be sad because I would be so close if I'm going to lose.

"I'm just going to focus like it's another match. I feel like the pressure isn't on me."