Watch now

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

Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning against Romania's Simona Halep during their women's singles fourth round tennis match on Day 8 of The Roland Garros 2020 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on October 4, 2020. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP) (Photo by THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)
© AFP via Getty Images

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

Argentina's Nadia Podoroska returns the ball to Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles quarter-final tennis match on Day 10 of The Roland Garros 2020 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on October 6, 2020. (Photo by MARTIN BUREAU / AFP) (Photo by MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images)
© AFP via Getty Images

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

Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova celebrates after winning against Germany's Laura Siegemund at the end of their women's singles quarter-final tennis match on Day 11 of The Roland Garros 2020 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on October 7, 2020. (Photo by MARTIN BUREAU / AFP) (Photo by MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images)
© AFP via Getty Images

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

PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 07: Sofia Kenin of The United States of America plays a forehand during her Women's Singles quarterfinals match against Danielle Collins of The United States of America on day eleven of the 2020 French Open at Roland Garros on October 07, 2020 in Paris, France. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
© 2020 Getty Images

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.