Looking ahead to the prospect of facing Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals of the French Open, Karolina Muchova vowed that she would try to make life complicated for the Belarusian world No 2.
That has been easier said than done in a season when Sabalenka, who won her first major six months ago at the Australian Open, has claimed more wins than any other player on the WTA Tour. But in one of the most dramatic matches of the year, the unseeded Muchova produced one of the biggest upsets of the year, saving a match point at 2-5 in the final set as she used her guile and variety to claim a 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 victory.
In her first grand slam final, the Czech world No 43 will face Iga Swiatek, the world No 1 and defending champion, who avenged her loss to Beatriz Haddad Maia last year in Toronto with a 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) win.
Muchova, a former world No 19, has previous when it comes to toppling big names. Two years ago, she defeated Ashleigh Barty, then ranked No 1, en route to the Australian Open semi-finals. She followed up a couple of months later by beating Naomi Osaka, the world No 2 at the time, in Madrid. Those results, and a few more like them. meant Muchova came into her meeting with Sabalenka undefeated against top-three players.
Even so, few would have predicted this latest milestone. The 26-year-old, who has been plagued by injuries throughout her career, arrived in Paris still looking to make up lost ground in the rankings after returning from a seven-month layoff with an abdominal problem in March of last year only to roll an ankle at Roland Garros. Muchova fell out of the top 100 in the months that followed, dipping as low as No 235 in the world. Yet, as her first-round victory over Maria Sakkari demonstrated, she remains a richly gifted player, and against Sabalenka she put her extensive repertoire to good use, absorbing the Belarusian’s power with her sliced backhand, disrupting her rhythm with drop shots and frequent forays to the net, and serving with precision and authority.
Regardless of which way the final goes, Muchova is now guaranteed a long overdue place in the top 10 – not bad for a player whose serial injury travails led some medics to warn she might have to give up the sport entirely.
“There have been many moments, many lows, I would say, from one injury to another,” said Muchova. “When I missed the Australian Open last year, and I was in a pretty bad state healthy-wise, I was working out a lot to try to get back.
“You never know. Some doctors told me, ‘Maybe you’ll not do sport any more.’ But I always kept positive in my mind and tried to work and do all the exercises to be able to come back.”
Muchova’s determination served her well down the stretch against Sabalenka. The final games were a mixture of the brilliant and the bizarre. On the one hand, once she had slotted away a forehand behind a fine first serve to stave off match point, Muchova barely put a foot wrong. Defying cramp, she laid the groundwork for a subsequent break by rifling a huge return winner down the line, and continued to play with the same calm authority she had shown throughout. At the same time, Sabalenka inexplicably went into a fatal tailspin, her game deserting her as she won just four of the last 24 points.
“I think after I lost my serve [at 5-3 in the decider],” replied Sabalenka, when asked where she felt the match began to slip away.
“I was serving for the match, so I think after that game she kind of stepped in and started playing a little bit more aggressive, and I kind of lost my rhythm. I wasn’t there.”
Sabalenka’s late dropoff was in stark contrast to the first two sets, where the quality on display from both women was frequently mesmerising. It was a collision of power and artistry, Sabalenka determined to bulldoze her way through the Czech’s defences, Muchova doing all she could to disrupt the Belarusian’s rhythm and play the match on her own terms.
Yet it was also so much more. Each player showed a willingness to take on the other at their own game. When Muchova attempted to break up the pace with a sliced backhand early in the first set, Sabalenka moved forward and feathered away a drop shot. When Sabalenka fashioned a break point with a crushing return, Muchova replied with an ace. It was cat and mouse stuff, the Czech testing Sabalenka’s patience and mental strength with her athletic defending, forever forcing her to make one more ball, even as Sabalenka attempted to overwhelm Muchova with her sustained intensity and strength of will.
Such tennis has been par for the course for Sabalenka over the past fortnight. For a player who had never advanced beyond the third round of the French Open before last week, the Belarusian cut through the lower half of the women’s draw as though to the manner born. A highly anticipated meeting with Swiatek began to look inevitable, particularly once Elena Rybakina withdrew from the tournament with illness, but a reprise of the Stuttgart and Madrid finals, which ended with one title apiece, was not to be.
One had to wonder whether the various controversies in which Sabalenka became embroiled over the fortnight contributed to her downfall. She was involved in politically-charged matches against Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina, both from Ukraine, and twice declined to attend open press conferences after a Ukrainian reporter pressed her to clarify her stance on Russia’s invasion, which has been supported by Belarus. Sabalenka acknowledged that her reserves were depleted, but attributed her tiredness to the physical demands of clay-court tennis rather than politics.
“I’m really exhausted right now,” said Sabalenka. “But I think it’s only because I lost this match. It’s a very, very tough, tough match for me to lose. I think it’s normal to feel exhausted after two weeks of playing non-stop and playing on the clay. It’s always physical matches.”
Sabalenka’s defeat meant Swiatek needed to defeat Haddad Maia to retain the No 1 ranking, a task the Pole accomplished only after withstanding a late fightback from the never-say-die 14th seed.
Haddad Maia has been the master escapologist of these championships, recovering from a set down in three straight matches, and when she outrallied Swiatek to bring up a set point at 6-5 in the second-set tiebreak, she looked to be on her way once more. What the 27-year-old Brazilian would have given at that stage for one of the laser-like forehand winners with which she frequently tormented Swiatek. Instead, a meek effort nose-dived into the net and the chance was gone, the world No 1 shaking off her passivity to reach a third final in four years.
“I’m just pretty happy to be in the final again,” said Swiatek. “It was a tough match, and especially [in the] second set, every point counted. It was stressful in some moments, so I’m happy that I was really solid and I was able to close it in the tiebreaker.”
Swiatek has now won 13 matches in a row at Roland Garros, and has yet to drop a set at this year’s tournament. In Muchova, she will once again face an opponent who won their only previous meeting, although much has changed since that day in Prague four years ago. A confirmed admirer of the Czech’s game, Swiatek knows what to expect in Saturday’s final.
“I played many practices with her since 2019, and I also watch her actually more than most of the players,” said Swiatek. “Just a coincidence, but it happened.
“I really like her game, honestly. I really respect her, and she’s a player who can do anything. She has great touch. She can also speed up the game. She plays with that kind of, I don’t know, freedom in her movements. And she has a great technique.
“So I watched her matches and I feel like I know her game pretty well. But obviously in matches, it’s a little bit different and I’ll be ready no matter what.”