| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May-11 June |
| Coverage: Live text and radio commentaries of selected matches across BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, the BBC Sport website and app |
Czech player Karolina Muchova became one of the lowest ranked players to reach the French Open women’s final as she edged a thriller against Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Ranked 43rd in the world, Muchova won 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 after saving a match point at 5-2 in the decider.
Muchova, 26, will play Polish top seed Iga Swiatek in Saturday’s final.
Defending champion Swiatek, 22, won 6-2 7-6 (9-7) against Brazilian 14th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia later on Thursday.
Sabalenka’s exit means Swiatek will remain world number one, a position she has held for 62 consecutive weeks, after she beat 27-year-old Haddad Maia.
Sabalenka, 25, served for the match in the decider but was overcome with tension as Muchova kept her composure to win an epic in three hours 13 minutes.
“I don’t really know what happened,” said Muchova, who is the fourth lowest-ranked woman to reach the final after Swiatek, Jelena Ostapenko and Renata Tomanova.
“It is unbelievable. I tried to keep fighting and it worked. I’m so happy.”
Muchova covered her face with a towel as she sat and contemplated the magnitude of her achievement, a stark contrast to when she sobbed on her chair at Roland Garros last year after having to retire injured from her third-round match.
Swiatek will be the overwhelming favourite to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen for a third time, having reached the final without losing a set and only dropping 23 games in her six matches.
Against 27-year-old Haddad Maia, the 2020 and 2022 champion faced moments of uncertainty but ultimately had enough quality to come through her toughest test yet.
After losing serve to love in the opening game, Swiatek quickly recovered to break back and won the final four games to wrap up the first set.
Haddad Maia, playing in her first major semi-final after never previously going past the third round, moved 3-1 ahead in the second set and pushed Swiatek with her consistent returning.
While Swiatek broke back for 3-3, Haddad Maia’s level remained high and it needed a tie-break to separate them.
Haddad Maia saved a match point with a winner down the line, but was powerless to stop the second which sparked a manic celebration from the…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at BBC Sport – Tennis…