Karolina Muchova stuns Aryna Sabalenka to move into French Open final

PARIS – Karolina Muchova was at a loss for words after saving a match point and battling back from 2-5 down in the final set to shock world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the French Open semi-finals on Thursday.

The Czech, ranked 43rd in the world, defeated the Australian Open champion 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 in a thrilling 3hr 13min match. She will face either defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland or Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia in Saturday’s final.

It will be her maiden Grand Slam final. Following the thrilling end, the 26-year-old was overwhelmed by emotions and did not know what to say when asked about her stunning comeback in the third set.

“I don’t really know what happened. It’s unbelievable, I tried to keep fighting and it worked. I’m so happy,” she said on court after the match.

“But I don’t want to sound cocky, I’m trying to play my game, I’m glad it worked so well. Thanks to my team, we work on this together so it’s our success.”

Her win also ended Sabalenka’s dream of becoming world No. 1.

The Belarusian would have taken over the top spot by winning the title in Paris. But she failed to convert her chance at 5-2 and bowed out to the gifted Muchova, 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 draw, Muchova did not attempt to match Sabalenka’s massive 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 to the net.

Sabalenka, the biggest hitter in the women’s game, could not use her fierce forehand and was clearly rattled.

She was broken as Muchova moved 5-4 up in the first set, but the Czech wasted one set point on her serve and was broken straight back before bagging the set at the second opportunity in the tiebreak.

The pair traded two breaks each in the second set before the Belarusian earned two set points in the tiebreak.

She squandered the first with a double fault but showed no nerves on the next to level.

In the deciding set, Sabalenka wasted four break points at 1-0 but snatched the key break in the third to move 4-2 clear. But it was all in vain in the end as she collapsed in the vital moments.

Earlier, Japan’s Miyu Kato became a French Open champion four days after she was controversially disqualified in the third round of the women’s doubles for accidentally hitting a ball girl.

Kato and her German partner Tim Putz beat Bianca Andreescu and Michael Venus 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 in the mixed doubles final.

“It has been challenging mentally in the last few days after my unjust disqualification from the women’s doubles,” she told the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd, reading from a prepared statement.

“Thanks to all the players for their heartfelt messages of support. I used that positive energy on court here today.

“I am now looking for a positive result to my appeal so I can reclaim my prize money, points and my reputation.”

Putz said that he hoped the title would help Kato after the drama.

“I hope this is redemption for you after what happened. The support you received was well deserved,” he said.

Kato and her Indonesian teammate Aldila Sutjiadi were defaulted last Sunday after a gentle lob from the Japanese player left a ball girl in tears and shaking.

Initially, the pair were handed only a warning by the chair umpire. But their opponents Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo protested and urged the tournament supervisor to look again at the incident.

Kato and Sutjiadi were then disqualified. Kato also had to forfeit her prize money.

“I hope the ball girl is OK and I hope we get to play Marie and Sara again,” added Kato. AFP, REUTERS