India, June 4 -- One of the biggest takeaways from when the French Open draws were made was that Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek were put in the same half of the women's singles event. Here we had the reigning world No.1 Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam champion on a collision course with the three-time defending champion and fifth seed Swiatek, should they get to the semi-final.

On Tuesday, both came up with straight-set wins in their respective quarter-final to set up a mouth watering semi-final. In many ways, the final before the final.

Playing one after the other on Court Philippe Chatrier, Sabalenka beat eight seed Qinwen Zheng 7-6(3), 6-3 before Swiatek came up with a 6-1, 7-5 win over 13th seed Elina Svitolina. By no means thou...