Karolina Muchova Defeats Aryna Sabalenka in Memorable Roland Garros Semifinal, Advances to First Grand Slam Final

Against all odds, Karolina Muchova will play the Roland Garros final with the chance to win the first Grand Slam title of her career. The Czech (number 43 in the world) defeated Aryna Sabalenka (n.2) by 7-6(5) (5)6-7 7-5 playing a memorable match, between total tennis and an impossible comeback under 5-2 and with a match point to defuse. With the defeat of Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek will be able to keep the first place in the world rankings if she manages to beat Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second semifinal.

tennis champagne

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If the Philippe Chatrier had been a theatre, the Parisian audience would have stood up and demanded an encore. Karolina Muchova (n.43) beat Aryna Sabalenka (n.2) after 3h13′ of total tennis, responding to the power of the Belarusian with the touch of an artist and the genius of a game scientist. Sabalenka defended herself by throwing everything, from all sides, even more than usual. And she would have worked too, if only she hadn’t performed a live sports suicide after throwing away a match point. The two styles were so different as to be complementary, in fact the first two partials went to the tiebreak — it had happened only two other times in history in a women’s Grand Slam semifinal. At the end of the first, after 1h12′ of one-handed passersby, reckless serve and volley against a player who shoots harder than Alcaraz on average, slices that seem to roll rather than rebound, Muchova closed the set with a perfect withering two-handed down the line. As if to say: I can beat you with my game, and also with yours. Muchova, 26, has lived an entire career with patience, tranquility. The one with which she waited for the endless physical troubles to give her a break and her tennis could finally flourish. With technical and mental tranquility she also faced her second Grand Slam semifinal. Sabalenka, who watched her from the other side of the net as he ruined her life by blissfully flitting from one corner of the court to the other, suffered in the first set, but in her second she managed to add construct to her heat. She had to finish there: a third set seemed too much for Muchova, who with her icy gaze tried to mask the now total absence of petrol in her legs. Sabalenka launched towards the 5-2, but from the moment she earned and basketed a match point she started to get everything wrong, as if she were back in 2022. Muchova shortened the rallies to the bone, she relied on serve and volley and dropshot, he tried to self-massage his legs in order not to let a physiotherapist come in to break the rhythm. She worked: 20 points to four from that point, five games in a row. “I have no idea what happened. I just tried to fight, but it worked. Really, I don’t know how,” Muchova said after sobbing with joy on the bench. Sabalenka was already well off the field, running away to avoid being seen after having torn up a ticket to the second major final of the year.