| Date: 8 June Venue: Roland Garros, Paris |
| Coverage: Radio and live text commentary from 1400 BST on the BBC Sport website and app |
The women’s French Open semi-finals will feature the two best players in the world – and two players who only dreamed of making it this far.
Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka plays unseeded Karolina Muchova, a player ranked outside the top 200 as recently as September, in the first semi-final on Thursday from 14:00 BST.
Then world number one Iga Swiatek, champion in 2020 and 2022, faces Beatriz Haddad Maia, who had never made it beyond the third round of a Grand Slam before this tournament.
There will be live commentary on both matches on the BBC Sport website and app.
Top two on course to meet in final
Swiatek, 22, and Sabalenka, 25, are seeded first and second respectively and have been considered among the favourites for the title since the tournament began.
Should they meet in the final then the world number one position would also be on the line with Swiatek’s 62-week run at the top under threat.
Sabalenka would have overtaken Swiatek in the rankings if the Pole had lost her quarter-final on Wednesday, but she defeated American teenager Coco Gauff in two sets, just as she did in last year’s final.
Swiatek has been in fine form at Roland Garros and not dropped a set in her five matches.
“I didn’t spend too much time on court so I’m happy it was a tighter match,” said Swiatek after her 6-4 6-2 win over Gauff.
“I’m pretty fresh and will be ready no matter what. Not having a day off was something I knew since the beginning of the tournament so I’m ready.”
Sabalenka had lost in the third round at Roland Garros in the past three years but has now reached at least the semi-finals at all four Grand Slams.
“I’m super happy to be in another semi-final,” said Sabalenka following her 6-4 6-4 quarter-final win over Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
Having declined to attend open news conferences for her mental wellbeing after a series of political questions, Sabalenka resumed her regular media duties after that win.
Belarusian Sabalenka has been under pressure to distance herself from Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia president Vladimir Putin and who is providing military support in the invasion of Ukraine.
Sabalenka said on Tuesday that she did not support…
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