Tomorrow’s women’s singles final in this year’s Roland Garros has been set between Karolina Muchkova & Iga Swiatek after two excellent semi final matches yesterday. One match was the best of three where Muchkova was held back by Aryna Sabalenka at 1-1 before she found her way out with patience for the win (7-6 (7-5 tie), 6-7 (5-7 tie), 7-5). And another looked a bit different where Swiatek got away with an easy first set, but that 2nd stage was really competitive where Beatriz Haddad Maia made some lost time along the way. But it was Swiatek who stood tall once again that ended for Brazilian’s fairytale run from the semi-finals in straight sets (6-2, 7-6 (9-7 tie)).
Gotta feel sorry for Sabalenka there who not only fired off really well but also showed some excellent fightback including that 2nd set tiebreak that led into a 3rd set decider. However, she just couldn’t hold on under pressure while leading briefly before she fell short to Muchova. Speaking of Muchkova, she kept it simple by taking her time all along when facing the current Aus Open champ in Sabalenka. She might have been held back following the 2nd stage of tiebreaks when the pressure began is on Muchkova to turn things around. But she has stuck to the approach that was working & here she is finding her way out unscathed en route to her first grand slam final – unbelievable.
Then we look back at the other semi tie now as Haddad Maia got away with a good start, but then was largely behind throughout the first set. Although her 2nd set run was improving where she threw the pressure back at Swiatek at times, but just couldn’t get the job done under pressure, even though she fell short from setting up a 3rd set decider in the tiebreak. And hats off to Swiatek who was class all along with the win. She got away with an easy first stage before she took her time with patience to grasp more of her opponent’s game while leading the 2nd set. Yes, it wasn’t easy but she credits that tiebreak as her lifeline where she went on to stand out on top.
Now we turn our attention to the men’s singles last 4 later tonight (or today over in Paris) – first up Carlos Alcaraz v Novak Djokovic then straight after this opening semi is Casper Ruud v Alexander Zverev.
