Muchova stuns Sabalenka to move into French Open final
The last unseeded player left in the men’s and women’s singles draw, Muchova did not attempt to match Sabalenka’s huge hitting power from the baseline.
Karolina Muchova celebrates her victory over Aryna Sabalenka
PARIS: Unseeded Karolina Muchova saved a match point before battling past second seed Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-5 on Thursday to reach the French Open women’s singles final and end the Belarusian’s dream of becoming World No.1.
Australian Open champion Sabalenka will have taken over the top spot in the rankings by winning the title in Paris, but she failed to convert her chance at 5-2 in the third set and bowed out to the gifted Czech, who cleverly defused her opponent’s power game and took the last five games in a row.
The last unseeded player left in the men’s and women’s singles draw, Muchova did not attempt to match Sabalenka’s huge hitting power from the baseline.
Instead, the Czech, who battled back from the mid-200s into the top-50 after an injury in 2021, opted for a lighter touch.
She sliced the ball to take the pace off, playing Sabalenka’s backhand and hitting drop shots to force the tall Belarusian into the net. Sabalenka, the biggest hitter in the women’s game, could not use her fierce forehand at will and was visibly rattled.
She was broken as Muchova moved 5-4 up but the Czech wasted one set point on her serve. The Czech was broken straight back before bagging the opener at the second opportunity in the tie-break.
The Belarusian, who had caused a furore in the tournament after her initial refusal to comment on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and her country’s role as a staging ground for Russian troops, was broken at the start of the second set.
The pair traded two breaks each in the before Sabalenka earned two set points in the tieb-reak. She squandered the first with a double fault but showed no nerves on the next to level the match.
Sabalenka wasted four break points at 1-0 but snatched the key break in the third set to move 4-2 clear.
After Muchova had saved a match point at 2-5 down, she launched her own comeback to win five straight games and reach her first Grand Slam final.
RESULT: Women’s singles: Semi-finals: K Muchova bt A Sabalenka 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-5