Unheralded Karolina Muchova saved a match point as she stunned world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka to reach the French Open final on Thursday.
The 43rd-ranked Muchova will play her first Grand Slam final after knocking out Australian Open champion Sabalenka 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, ending the Belarusian’s 12-match winning run at majors.
She added Sabalenka to an impressive list of victims in Paris which included eighth seed Maria Sakkari in the first round and 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinal.
Only three women ranked lower than Muchova have made the final before in Paris, including the then-teenaged Swiatek who was 54th when she claimed her maiden Grand Slam title in 2020.
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Muchova saved two break points in the fourth game of the opener and then broke Sabalenka at 4-4 to leave herself serving for the set.
Sabalenka saved a set point as she broke back and then moved 5-4 ahead in the tie-break, but Muchova stood firm and the Czech seized her second chance by ripping a superb backhand down the line.
Muchova broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set only for Sabalenka to reply right away. The second seed nudged in front with a break for 4-3 but this time Muchova was quick to level.
However, she saved a match point in the eighth game before incredibly racing away with the last five games to claim a famous win after three hours and 13 minutes.
