Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka sustained her focus and triumphed over Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, whose French Open run came to an end.
There was a tense atmosphere on the court, which could also be felt in the stands, as Sabalenka being from Belarus meant she was seen as an enemy by Svitolina, as Belarus is an ally of Russia.
Svitolina ended up losing 6-4 6-4 on the Parisian clay court in her first Grand Slam match back since giving birth, meanwhile following her victory, Belarusian Sabalenka is next set to compete for the title against Karolina Muchova, who triumphed over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Muchova from the Czech Republic managed to defeat the former finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5 6-2 in straight sets to reach her first French Open semi-final.
Muchova ended up winning 7-5, 6-2 to win her spot in her second Grand Slam final-four appearance. She secured her victory in the second set after an intense hour-long first set.
Following a serious knee injury last year, Pavyluchenkova’s rank fell to 333rd place in the world. She managed to reach the Roland Garros final in 2021, however, only to lose to Barbora Krejcikova.
Although she had hopes that she’d be able to match her achievement once again, Muchova, 26, put a stop to her dream.
