Courtesy: Roland Garros/X
On Thursday, June 5, Aryna Sabalenka, the world number one, hailing from Belarus, defeated defending three-time champion Iga Swiatek from Poland in the semi-final in three sets with a scoreline of 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-0 at the Court Philippe Chatrier. With that, the 27-year-old managed to break the 26-match winning run of fifth seed Iga Swiatek at the Roland Garros, to make the final for the first-time in her illustrious career, aiming to win the fourth Grand Slam title.
The first set was a pulsating affair between the world’s top player and clay court specialist, which went to a tie-breaker, where Aryna Sabalenka managed to bring out some of her best, to claim it quite convincingly while giving away just a point. In the second set, Swiatek showed why she is one of the best women’s players on clay, winning it in quite an impressive fashion after breaking the serve of her opponent.
Iga is the toughest opponent, especially at Roland Garros: Sabalenka
The third and deciding set saw Aryna Sabalenka absolutely dominate Iga Swiatek, not allowing the Polish tennis player to have any sniff at victory. She went on to break the serve thrice in a row, to serve out the set and match with a bagel, giving herself the best possible chance of winning a Grand Slam on clay courts of Roland Garros in the Saturday’s showpiece.
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In the post-match, Aryna Sabalenka was quite happy with her performance against Iga Swiatek in the French Open semi-final, but she isn’t finished yet. She was quoted as saying, as per BBC Sport, “It feels incredible but the job is not done yet. I'm thrilled with my performance. Iga is the toughest opponent, especially at Roland Garros, I'm proud I managed to get this win.”
The final of the women’s singles at Roland Garros will see Aryna Sabalenka take on the winner of the semi-final clash between American second seed Coco Gauff and French wildcard Lois Boisson. While Gauff, who had made the final of the tournament in 2022, is an overwhelming favourite to get the better of Boisson, she could be in for a rude shock just the recent opponents of the Frenchwomen over the past week or so in route to their upcoming match.
