Day 11 Live: Ruud books Cilic last-four clash

Cilic tops Rublev

Marin Cilic completed his set of Grand Slam semi-finals by knocking out No.7 seed Andrey Rublev 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(10/2) in a marathon showdown on Wednesday at Roland-Garros.

Cilic, a US Open champion in 2014 and a former runner-up at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, had never made it past the quarters in Paris but has now made the semis or better at all four majors.

The 33-year-old Cilic takes a 0-2 head-to-head record into his semi-final with Ruud.

>> FULL CILIC-RUBLEV REPORT

Rublev clinched a 57-minute opening set before Cilic raced to take the next two. The world No.7 fought hard to force a decider, in which he saved a match point when serving at 4-5.

Rublev had a chance to break for 6-5 but some clutch serving from Cilic got the Croatian out of trouble as he held for 6-5 in an eight-minute game. The match fittingly went to a deciding tiebreak, which Cilic valiantly snatched to punch his ticket to the last four.

Rublev has now lost all five Grand Slam quarter-finals he has reached so far in his career.

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Swiatek celebrates birthday with a win

World No.1 Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak to 33 matches and reached the third Grand Slam semi-final of her career - and second of the year - with a 6-3, 6-2 success over American 11th seed Jessica Pegula at Roland-Garros on Wednesday, a day after turning 21.

Swiatek needed four match points to close out the win against Pegula, sending a backhand winner down-the-line to book a spot in the final four in one hour and 29 minutes.

>> FULL REPORT

Swiatek, a champion on Parisian clay in 2020, has not lost a match since the last-16 stage in Dubai back in February, and will take on familiar foe Daria Kasatkina in the semi-finals on Thursday.

Maiden Slam semi for Dasha

Kasatkina has reached her first Grand Slam semi-final, posting a convincing win over 29th seed Veronika Kudermetova at Roland-Garros on Wednesday.

The 20th seed, who last reached a major quarter-final in 2018, continued her dominant run in Paris with a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

The former top-10 player was broken while serving for the victory at 5-4 and had to manage her nerves when Kudermetova took a lengthy medical timeout before Kasatkina was due to serve at 5-6.

>> FULL REPORT

Kasatkina raced to a 6-1 lead in the tiebreak but things got tense as Kudermetova saved match points and cut her deficit to 5-6. But Kasatkina unleashed a deft drop shot out of nowhere to secure the win in two hours and eight minutes.

Kasatkina has now won 11 of her past 13 matches and has yet to drop a set this tournament after defeating her fellow 25-year-old for the second time in as many meetings.

The 25-year-old Kasatkina has lost to Swiatek three times already this season, winning a total of 11 games across all three, but the 20th seed is hopeful she can turn things around against her Polish opponent on Thursday.

"I lost those matches, but was a different story. It was a hard court, beginning of the year, I was not in the same shape as I am now," said Kasatkina.

"So, me, I cannot compare what we are going to have tomorrow and what we had in February, March when we were playing. So it's going to be completely different match. I want to win a lot, she wants to win as well, and it's going to be a good match.

"You never know what's going to happen in the semi-final of a Grand Slam, so it's going to be fun and that's it."