Iga Swiatek will compete against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in Saturday’s final to claim her third French Open title in four years. On Thursday, the unseeded Muchova defeated the second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka to prevent a rematch between the tournament’s top two players.
Muchova defeated Sabalenka 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5 to advance to her first grand slam final. Muchova overcame a 2-5, 30-40 deficit on her serve by winning the final five games of a spectacular match.
Swiatek, the top seed, then defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia, the 14th seed, 6-2 7-6 (7), preserving a set point in a tense two-setter to advance to her third French Open championship match.
Sabalenka and Muchova battled for more than three hours, generating a high-quality match that resulted in a long-awaited breakthrough for one of the tour’s most naturally gifted players. Muchova, a former top 20 player and 2021 Australian Open quarterfinalist, has been plagued by injuries throughout her career, and her No. 43 ranking belies her status on the circuit.
She stated that physicians told her last year that she might not be able to return. “There have been many low points, I would say, from one injury to the next,” the Czech stated.
Without a doubt, when I missed the Australian Open last year due to poor condition of health, I was working out a great deal to get back. You can never tell. Some physicians told me, “Perhaps you will no longer participate in sports.” But I maintained a positive attitude and worked hard and performed all the necessary exercises to return.
Muchova began the match by utilizing her vast arsenal of strikes to keep Sabalenka off balance. While Muchova attempted to match Sabalenka’s potency with a powerful first serve and forehand, she also swept to the net whenever possible and peppered her opponent with low, skidding slices and drop shots.
Sabalenka appeared to have won the match after enduring two grueling sets of competition. After gaining a 5-2 lead in the third set and reaching match point on Muchova’s serve, Sabalenka collapsed despite Muchova’s cramping.
Muchova stated, “I think everything has its own time.”
“It was not simple in the past. Knowing what I have been through in the past makes me value this result even more. To be in a grand slam final is without a doubt my ambition.”
After a remarkable first half of the season, the Australian Open champion suffered his first grand slam loss of the year. Sabalenka attempted to concentrate on the positive aspects of her two weeks in Paris, despite having never previously advanced past the fourth round. She resolved to learn from her loss and return more powerfully.
Sabalenka remarked, “I believe what I was doing was incredible, and I intend to continue doing it this season. I do not view this tournament in a negative light. I believe I made significant progress on the clay court, and this is my finest result here.”
Despite Swiatek’s growing aura in Paris, Haddad Maia played her first major semifinal match without concern as she immediately applied pressure to the Pole. The Brazilian drove the No. 1 into a tense second-set tie-break and compelled her to play her best tennis in crucial moments.
As she has done so frequently in Paris, the 22-year-old heeded the call, overcoming a set-point deficit to advance to another French Open final.
