American teenager Coco Gauff crushed Italy's Martina Trevisan 6-3 6-1 to become the youngest French Open finalist in 21 years and set up a showcase clash with world number one Iga Swiatek.
The 18-year-old, who was already in unknown Grand Slam territory with her first semi-final spot, will next face Polish top seed Swiatek, who cruised into Saturday's final with a 6-2 6-1 demolition of Russian Daria Kasatkina to stretch her winning run to 34 matches.
Gauff, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament and is the youngest finalist at any Grand Slam in 18 years, needed time to find her range, trading two early breaks each with Trevisan.
Once she found a way to neutralise the left-hander's punishing forehand, however, Gauff breezed through the first set by winning the last three games.
The 28-year-old Trevisan, bidding to become the lowest ranked finalist in the event's history, took a medical break to strap up her right calf.
But things just got worse for her as she piled up 35 errors by the middle of the second set.
Ranked 23rd in the world, Gauff broke her again in a game lasting 14 minutes to go 3-1 up and never looked back, sealing her biggest career win on her first match point.
"I'm a little bit in shock right now," said Gauff.
"I played Martina two years ago and lost to her so I know how difficult she is to play, especially on clay."
The youngest finalist at #RolandGarros since 2001 👏@cocogauff battles past Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-1 to book a meeting with Iga Swiatek. pic.twitter.com/85F4HNtLRB
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2022
Earlier in the day, Swiatek continued her march towards a second French Open title in three years when she demolished Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-2 6-1 to reach the final and extend her winning streak to a jaw-dropping 34 matches.
The world number one conceded an early break, but made the most of Kasatkina's string of unforced errors, peppering Court Philippe Chatrier with winners.
Swiatek has not lost since February and has matched Serena William's winning run from 2013, having now lost only two sets in her last four tournaments.
The Pole again played with a ribbon in the colours of the Ukrainian flag pinned to her hat against her Russian opponent.
"Pretty special moment. Yeah, I'm really emotional. I'm so grateful to be in this place and you know, be healthy and be able to play my game. It's amazing and I love playing here," said Swiatek.
"Right after my first year there was Covid and I was not able to see how many Polish people would come. It's overwhelming.
"I try to treat every match the same way. When I realise this is one of the biggest matches of the season, it could stress me out."
Swiatek started with a double fault but held and broke in the second game, only for Kasatkina to break back and level for 2-2.
The Russian's game, however, was riddled with unforced errors and Swiatek collected free points to steal her opponent's serve again for 4-2.
2️⃣6️⃣ shots 👏#RolandGarros | @iga_swiatek pic.twitter.com/GqYmshbadg
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2022
She then won eight points in a row to wrap up the opening set with a crosscourt backhand return that left Kasatkina with her feet stuck on the red clay.
Swiatek, looking to become the fourth woman since 2000 – after Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova – to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup twice, kept her foot on the gas to take the early lead in the second set.
But Kasatkina, who had lost all their three encounters in straight sets this season, stemmed the bleeding with a hold for 1-1.
It was only a brief relief for the world number 20, who was being bludgeoned by Swiatek's precise and powerful forehands.
The top seed won all the remaining games, allowing a sorry Kasatkina only nine points in the second set, and finished it off with an ace.
Back in the final 💪@iga_swiatek scores her 34th consecutive win, defeating Kasatkina 6-2, 6-1 for the right to play for the title#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/SygTtSrgnx
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2022
