Swiatek storms past Pegula and into Rome semi-finals, Svitolina stuns Rybakina

[p]Ukrainian [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/monfils-elina/jyngIesG/"]Svitolina[/a] fought back from a set down to knock out second ‌seed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/rybakina-e-UDzElXdm/svitolina-e-jyngIesG/?mid=jR7BVJdU"]2-6, 6-4, 6-4[/a].[/p][p]Polish fourth seed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/swiatek-iga/jNyZsXZe/"]Swiatek[/a] followed ‌up her emphatic win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/osaka-naomi/MDM4BKiA/"]Naomi Osaka[/a] in the previous round ‌with yet another [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/pegula-j-KdojxrAR/swiatek-i-jNyZsXZe/?mid=2qWFGaIc"]one-sided victory[/a].[/p][p]Against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pegula-jessica/KdojxrAR/"]Pegula[/a], she raced ‌to a 5-0 lead before the American managed to win a game.[/p][p]Swiatek never loosened her grip on the match, conceding three games overall.[/p][embed guid="3537adc4-b474-4723-b2e7-47cf44628e80" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXkkDn1wNXQ&pp=ygUDd3Rh" social-type="youtube" /][p]The six-time ‌Grand Slam champion finished with 15 winners ⁠compared to Pegula's six.[/p][p]The victory ‌marks Swiatek's first win over a top-10 opponent this year and continues ​an encouraging upswing after she began working last month with Francisco Roig, the former coach of her idol ​Rafa Nadal.[/p][p]"I feel much better," Swiatek said. [b]"I have a lot of confidence in my shots. I used that from the beginning ⁠of the match today ​and kept putting pressure on Jessie, so I'm really happy with how I played."[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="c26168c3-fee1-4355-b481-a5c5281ea7d1" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="8e2c5099-87b1-4ccc-bcf2-1128e8aef015" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]A title in Rome would come as a timely lift for the 24-year-old ahead of the French Open, where ‌the main draw gets underway on May 24th.[/p][p]Swiatek had been forced to retire from her previous tournament, the Madrid Open, in the round of 32 due to illness, leaving the court in tears.[/p][p]Her path has also opened up significantly in Rome. With world number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a] knocked out in the third round by Romania's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cirstea-sorana/fBPsm3Iq/"]Sorana Cirstea[/a], Swiatek has a renewed opportunity to end a claycourt title drought stretching back to her 2024 ‌French Open triumph.[/p][p]She is targeting a fifth title at Roland Garros.[/p][embed guid="dc2ce8e3-f9b1-4c32-bc74-e2659032db84" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lehHOYAjo8g&pp=ygUDd3Rh" social-type="youtube" /][p]Ukrainian ​seventh seed Svitolina fended off 16 break points as ‌she squeezed past Australian Open champion Rybakina in a marathon evening match lasting nearly two and a half hours.[/p][p]She reached the Rome semi-final for the first time since winning the title in 2018.[/p][p]Sorana Cirstea will face two-time major winner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gauff-coco/f5BXmEH6/"]⁠Coco Gauff[/a] in the other ⁠semi-final.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/tennis/wta-singles/rome/"]Follow the women's Italian Open with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]