PARIS: World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka displayed her prowess on the court, securing her first-ever semifinal appearance at Roland-Garros with a composed 6-4, 6-4 victory against former world No. 3 Elina Svitolina.
In the upcoming semifinal, Sabalenka will face off against Karolina Muchova, setting the stage for an exciting clash between two formidable players.
Karolina Muchova stopped resurgent former French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in her tracks with a 7-5, 6-2 victory on Tuesday to march into the Roland Garros semi-finals for the first time in her career.
In the last four, Czech Republic's Muchova will play second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus or Ukrainian former world number three Elina Svitolina who will meet in a politically-charged quarter-final later in the day.
"I don't know what to say, it's been an incredible two weeks and I'm glad I'm still in the competition," Muchova said.
"I will for sure watch the match (between Sabalenka and Svitolina), I'm not sure if I will watch it live but I'm sure it will be another great match in two days."
Muchova has largely flown under the radar in Paris this year after she stunned eighth seed Maria Sakkari in the opening round and the unseeded 26-year-old began brightly in front of a sparse Court Philippe Chatrier crowd with an early break.
But Pavlyuchenkova, who has fallen to 333 in the world after a knee injury kept her out of action for seven months last year, stayed within touching distance with a tight hold and sprung to life in the next game to draw level at 3-3.
After the pair exchanged breaks again, Muchova pinned her 31-year-old Russian opponent back with some deep groundstrokes to bag the opening set without fuss and made early inroads in the next as Pavlyuchenkova faded under the midday sun.
Muchova appeared more comfortable in the second set and built a commanding 5-1 lead before Pavlyuchenkova showed some signs of resistance.
But there was no comeback on the cards as Muchova closed out the match on serve, celebrating the victory when Pavlyuchenkova fired a shot wide.
Moreover, Facing Svitolina for the third time overall, and for the first time in three years, Sabalenka earned control of the match in the middle of each set. She won three straight games from 4-3 in the opener, after those seven went with serve, and won four in a row from 2-0 down in the second set.
Sabalenka, who completed her Grand Slam box set of last four appearances, now owns a tour-leading 34 match-wins in 2023 and will take on Karolina Muchova in the final four.
To replace Swiatek at the top of the rankings, Sabalenka must out-perform the Pole here in Paris. Agencies
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