Karolina Muchova, world number 43, upset world number 2, Aryna Sabalenka, and beat her 2-1 sets in the Roland-Garros ½ finals.
Karolina Muchova knocks off No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka‼️
She is the fourth woman from the Czech Republic to make a French Open final since 2015 👏 pic.twitter.com/9ZdGntcvsF
— ESPN (@espn) June 8, 2023
Karolina won the 1st set after a tiebreak 7-6 (5) after both converted one break during the set. Sabalenka won the 2nd set after a tiebreak 7-6 (5), but this time to reach the tiebreak, both broke their opponent’s serve twice.
The Belarusian had a 5-2 lead in the final set, and everything finished for the Czech player, but then Muchove won 5 straight games (broke Sabalenka’s serve twice), won the 3rd set 7-5, and reached the final in the French Capital.
Muchova got angles 📐#RolandGarros | @karomuchova7 pic.twitter.com/lpzNn4qxdR
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 8, 2023
Muchova will play for the title in the French Open on Saturday against Swiatek or Haddad Maia.
3 – Karolina Muchova is only the 3rd player ranked outside the WTA’s top-40 to reach the final at #RolandGarros after Jelena Ostapenko (2017) and Iga Swiatek (2020), with both of the previous two winning their respective finals. Cruising.@WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/P0loubo0nM
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) June 8, 2023