Roland Garros 2021: 3 talking points from Maria Sakkari's win over Iga Swiatek as Pole's title defense ends

17th seed Maria Sakkari used her brute force to power her way to a 6-4, 6-4 win over defending Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

The victory helped the 25-year-old etch her name into the record books as the first Greek female player to make the semifinals of the French Open. It also guarantees a new women's singles champion at Roland Garros.

Sakkari successfully managed to do what nobody else could over this fortnight — make Swiatek look pedestrian on the court.

The Greek's power-packed game constantly put Swiatek on the back foot and the Pole simply had no answer.

On that note, let's take a look at the three things that stood out in Maria Sakkari's upset of Iga Swiatek:

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#1 Iga Swiatek's forehand crumbles in face of Maria Sakkari onslaught

After a wobbly couple of games, Maria Sakkari found her rhythm and put Swiatek to the sword.

The Pole struggled to match the Greek from the baseline, and with her usually reliable forehand breaking down in the face of Sakkari's onslaught, the Pole was reduced to a mere spectator at times.

Sakkari's strategy was to attack the Swiatek forehand and put the defending champion on the backfoot — a position the 20-year-old is not used to being in. The World No. 18 also took her opportunities to come forward and keep the Pole pinned to the baseline, drawing errors from the eighth seed's racquet.

The difference in the winners-unforced errors ratio for both players tells the story. While Sakkari struck 26 winners and made 24 errors, Swiatek hit just 17 winners and committed a whopping 25 unforced errors.

#2 Sakkari's serve comes up clutch

Champions thrive under pressure and Maria Sakkari showed that in abundance after her early-match jitters. Sakkari's fearless serving under pressure in both sets was crucial to her success.

Even when she faced a break point while serving for the first set, Sakkari didn't back off, producing a gutsy serve to extinguish the Pole's hopes.

While serving out the match, Sakkari raced to a 40-0 lead and even though Swiatek took the next two points, the Greek was able to close it out on her own terms.

The fact that Sakkari served big is corroborated by the difference in the service speeds between the two players. Sakkari's maximum service speed was 182kmph — a good three kmph quicker than the Pole's. Her average first-serve speed (167 kmph) was also much higher than Swiatek's (158 kmph), which paved the way for the Greek's win.

#3 Maria Sakkari needs to start quicker

Maria Sakkari urgently needs to address an issue that has been plaguing her throughout the clay season -- slow starts.

Against Elise Mertens in the third round and Iga Swiatek today, Maria Sakkari appeared to be a bundle of nerves and conceded an early break of serve.

The Greek's tendency to start slowly could come back to haunt her heading into the final weekend of the claycourt Major.

This has been a recurring problem for the World No. 18. Against Amanda Anisimova in the first round at Madrid, the Greek was bageled before coming back to record a 0-6, 6-1, 6-4 win. Two rounds later, Karolina Muchova blanked her in the opening set en route a 6-0, 6-7(9), 7-5 win.

In Rome against Coco Gauff, Sakkari once again got off to a miserable start . The American teen breadsticked Sakkari in the first set and eventually prevailed 6-1, 1-6, 6-1.

Sakkari looked dialed in after her initial wobble against Swiatek, but she might not have the time to make a comeback when she faces the red-hot Barbora Krejcikova in the semifinals.