Sabalenka dethrones Swiatek to reach first French Open final
The Belarusian snapped Swiatek's French Open winning streak at 26 matches with a 7-6 (7/1), 4-6, 6-0 success and will face either second seed Coco Gauff or French surprise hero Lois Boisson on Saturday for the title.
"It feels incredible but also I understand that the job is not done yet. I'm just thrilled with the performance today," said the 27-year-old.
"What can I say, 6-0 - it couldn't be much more perfect than that!"
Sabalenka edged a topsy-turvy first set that featured eight breaks of serve in a tie-break, before Swiatek hit back to level the match.
The finale turned out to be a complete anti-climax, as Swiatek made 12 unforced errors in the third set and won only six points.
Sabalenka is targeting a fourth Grand Slam title and first not on hard courts, after winning last year's US Open and the Australian Open back-to-back in 2023 and 2024.
Swiatek has still not reached a WTA final since lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen 12 months ago.
She showed signs of a revival on the Paris clay where she has dominated since lifting the title as a teenager in 2020, but her game deserted her in the deciding set as she slipped to only the third French Open defeat of her career.
Sabalenka has now won their last two meetings, and five of 13 in total.
This was the first time the pair, the dominant players in women's tennis of the past few years, have gone head-to-head at a Grand Slam tournament since Swiatek's win in the 2022 US Open semi-finals en route to the title.
Sabalenka will be a strong favourite to lift the trophy when she takes on either Gauff, who she lost to in the 2023 US Open final, or world number 361 Boisson.
Sabalenka's strong start
Sabalenka roared out of the blocks as Swiatek double-faulted to give up a break in the very first game.
The top seed quickly built a 3-0 lead with a double-break, as Swiatek mustered only four points in the opening exchanges.
But Sabalenka's hold in game two proved to be the only one until Swiatek cut the gap to 4-3 to stay within touching distance, before making it four successive games to edge in front.
Sabalenka did manage to create a chance to serve out the set, but unsurprisingly, Swiatek broke again to force a tie-break as the Belarusian lashed a groundstroke long.
The three-time Grand Slam champion finally got the first set on the board, though, blasting through the tie-break as Swiatek eventually cracked.
The breaks of serve kept coming in the second set, until Swiatek managed to hold for a 3-1 advantage.
The pair belatedly stabilised behind their serves, albeit too late for Sabalenka in the second set as Swiatek held to love to force a decider.
The four-time champion had never lost a three-set match at the French Open, but found herself sliding towards defeat as she slipped 2-0 behind in the third.
Swiatek, who has built a reputation for dishing out bagels, then wilted under the pressure in a disappointing final set that lasted just 22 minutes.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
9 hours ago
- France 24
Champ leads Canadian Open as McIlroy crashes to missed cut
Champ fired four birdies in a four-under-par 66 to seize a two-stroke lead at TPC Toronto Osprey Valley, where world number two McIlroy posted an eight-over 78 to miss the cut by a wide margin. McIlroy, who won the Masters in April to complete a career Grand Slam, endured a horrendous day in a final start before next week's US Open at Oakmont. McIlroy's nightmare round included a quadruple bogey eight at the fifth hole, where he fired his second shot out of bounds and after a one-stroke penalty hit another shot over the green. He made a double-bogey at the 11th, where he was in the water hazard off the tee, and missed the cut for the first time this season. "Of course it concerns me," McIlroy said. "You don't want to shoot high scores like the one I did today. "I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn't. "Obviously going to Oakmont next week, what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways. When I get that part of the game clicking, then everything falls into place for me. Right now that isn't (happening). Yeah, that's a concern going into next week." Meanwhile Champ posted his second straight bogey-free round, and while he said he didn't hit it as well as he did in Thursday's 62 his 12-under-par total of 128 was enough for a two-stroke lead over American Andrew Putnam, whose bogey-free 62 was the best round of the day. Overnight co-leader Thorbjorn Olesen fired five birdies to balance three bogeys and a double bogey in an even par 70 to share third place on nine-under 131 with Canadians Nick Taylor and Richard Lee and Victor Perez of France. Taylor the 2023 champion, posted a five-under 65 while Lee carded a six-under 64. Perez made four of his six birdies on the back nine on the way to a 65. A joy to play It's been a whirlwind trip north of the border for Champ, a three-time PGA Tour winner who lost his card last year and was preparing to play in the Korn Ferry Tour event in South Carolina when he found on Tuesday he'd made the Canadian field as eighth alternate. "Luckily I actually brought my passport," Champ said. "I don't know why I brought it. I was like, you know, I'm just going to bring it in case for whatever reason, not even thinking about the tournament." Not only did Champ take the schedule shake-up in stride, he embraced the opportunity after a couple of years in which "off course stuff" had made it "a little rough for me to even be out here. "I just finally kind of accepted that and finally got some help," Champ said after a round that featured two birdies on each side. "For me, it's just a refresher to kind of be free in a sense ... I could care less what I shoot. "These last two days, it was just a joy for me to be able to play like that." Chile's Cristobal Del Solar, who flirted with a 59 before joining Olesen in shooting 61 on Thursday, carded a one-over 71 and was among a group of six on eight-under 132 that also included Ireland's Shane Lowry.
France 24
10 hours ago
- France 24
'Honoured' Djokovic hints at possible Roland Garros farewell after semi-final loss
Following his 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) loss to world number one Sinner, Djokovic stopped briefly on his way off Court Philippe Chatrier and took a moment to "show his gratitude" to the Paris crowd. "This could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don't know. That's why I was a bit more emotional even in the end," said three-time champion Djokovic. "But if this was the farewell match of Roland Garros for me in my career, it was a wonderful one in terms of the atmosphere and what I got from the crowd. "Not the happiest because of the loss, but, you know, I tried to show my gratitude to the crowd, because they were terrific." Djokovic has on occasion had a fraught relationship with the Parisian public, but hailed the backing he received against Sinner. "I don't think I have ever received this much support in this stadium in my career in big matches against the best players in the world. So very, very honoured to experience that," he added. 'Keep on keeping on' However, the Serb allayed fears he would be calling time on his career just yet. He stills stands on the brink of history after his latest tilt at a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title was foiled. One more major victory would take him beyond Margaret Court and into outright-first on the list of players with the most Grand Slams. "At the moment I will try to stick with the plan what I had, which is play the Grand Slams," he said. "Those tournaments are the priorities of my schedule, my calendar. Wimbledon and US Open, yes, they are in plans. That's all I can say right now. "I'm going to, unless something, I don't know, happens, whatever. But I feel like I want to play Wimbledon, I want to play US Open. Those two, for sure. For the rest, I'm not so sure." Despite the latest setback, Djokovic insisted he still has the record in his sights and hoped it will be seventh time lucky when Wimbledon starts on June 30. "Obviously Wimbledon is next, which is my childhood favourite tournament. I'm going to do everything possible to get myself ready," he said. "I guess my best chances (of winning) maybe are Wimbledon, you know, to win another Slam, or faster hard court, maybe Australia or something like that." Djokovic has won the title at Wimbledon seven times and is the the most dominant men's player in the history of the Australian Open with 10 victories in Melbourne. When asked how long he had been considering his future at Roland Garros, Djokovic cryptically replied: "Not long. You know, I don't know. "I don't know really what tomorrow brings in a way at this point in my career. You know, I going to keep on keeping on." Djokovic has appeared in the last 21 editions of the French Open -- lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires in 2016, 2021 and 2023. Last summer, he secured the only big title to have eluded him through the majority of his career when he won Olympic gold on centre court at Roland Garros. "We hope that it's not the case, because I feel like tennis needs him in a way," said Sinner when told of Djokovic's comments. "He said 'maybe', so you never know."
France 24
11 hours ago
- France 24
Top-seed Sinner beats Djokovic to reach French Open final against Alcaraz
Top-ranked Jannik Sinner from Italy beat Novak Djokovic from Serbia 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (3) to set up a French Open final against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. Djokovic is the men's record 24-time Grand Slam champion but could not counter Sinner's relentless accuracy and pounding forehands on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Sinner became only the second Italian man to reach the final at Roland-Garros after Adriano Panatta, the 1976 champion. Earlier, Alcaraz led 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 2-0 against Lorenzo Musetti when the eighth-seeded Italian retired with a leg injury. Sinner is aiming for his fourth major title, Alcaraz his fifth.
