Muchová will meet the twenty-five-year-old native of Minsk for the second time in her career. Four years ago in Zhuhai, China, she lost on a hard surface in the semi-finals 5:7, 6:7. “I will prepare for the match like any other. Aryna is a great player, world number two. It will definitely be the hardest match I have played here so far. I can expect it to be played quickly, she will shoot for it. We will try to find a way to grow up to her. I will definitely go into it with the fact that I want to win,” Muchová told journalists.
The last Czech participant in singles improved her previous best in Paris by advancing to the semi-finals. So far, her best at Roland Garros has been in the 3rd round twice. This is the second time she is in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, she reached the same distance two years ago at the Australian Open, where she fell short of the American Jennifer Brady. “Back then, I got on with a torn abdominal muscle. Now it’s incomparable. I feel much better,” said Muchová.
The tennis player of the 1st ČLTK Prague has already moved from the 43rd place to the 19th place in the “live” WTA rankings. She eliminated Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals, before also defeating her compatriot Elina Avanesyanova, Romania’s Irina Beguova, Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska and world number eight Maria Sakkariova. She has lost only one set in the tournament so far.
“We came here with the highest goals, so I firmly believe that this is not Karolína’s last match. Sabalenková is the player who is currently the best on paper in the rankings, but we still see chances to beat her. We have a plan for that,” said the coach Emil Miske. According to him, Muchová will mainly try to dull her opponent’s powerful weapons, such as her crushing shots and serve.
“Of course there will be a lot of exchanges where Sabalenkova kills it relatively easily or gives an ace. We are prepared for the fact that there will be a lot of winners. That is her tennis. She always has a lot of winning shots, but also a lot of unforced errors. And we will try to force those mistakes,” Miške added.
Sabalenková cherishes the chance for a second Grand Slam title this year and overall. He has a record of 34 wins and five losses this year. She started her journey through the tournament with a win over the Ukrainian Marta Kostyukova, then defeated her compatriot Iryna Shymanovich, Russia’s Kamilla Rachimova, the American Sloane Stephens and lastly another Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. He will play the fifth Grand Slam semifinal of his career and the first at Roland Garros.
On Tuesday, Belarus also arrived for the post-match press conference, which it had missed on the previous two occasions due to questions on political topics. After the match with Svitolina, she spoke out against the war and therefore did not even express support for the current president Alexander Lukashenko.
“I don’t want my country to be involved in any conflict. I’ve said it several times and you all know where I stand. You have my opinion, you have my answer. I don’t support war. I don’t want to be associated with politics. I just want to be a tennis player,” added Sabalenková.
2023-06-07 22:13:00
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