Lowly Muchova Upsets Sabalenka to Reach Women’s Singles Final

FRENCH OPEN

Czech player Karolina Muchova became one of the lowest ranked players to reach the French Open women’s final as she edged a thriller against Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka.

Ranked 43rd in the world, Muchova won 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 after saving a match point at 5-2 in the decider.

Muchova, 26, will play Polish top seed Iga Swiatek in Saturday’s final.

Defending champion Swiatek, 22, won 6-2 7-6 (9-7) against Brazilian 14th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia later on Thursday.

Sabalenka’s exit means Swiatek will remain world number one, a position she has held for 62 consecutive weeks, after she beat 27-year-old Haddad Maia.

Sabalenka, 25, served for the match in the decider but was overcome with tension as Muchova kept her composure to win an epic in three hours 13 minutes.

“I don’t really know what happened,” said Muchova, who is the fourth lowest-ranked woman to reach the final after Swiatek, Jelena Ostapenko and Renata Tomanova.

“It is unbelievable. I tried to keep fighting and it worked. I’m so happy.”

Muchova covered her face with a towel as she sat and contemplated the magnitude of her achievement, a stark contrast to when she sobbed on her chair at Roland Garros last year after having to retire injured from her third-round match.

Swiatek will be the overwhelming favourite to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen for a third time, having reached the final without losing a set and only dropping 23 games in her six matches.