Aryna Sabalenka beats Iga Swiatek, the reigning champion, to reach French Open final

New York Times

a day ago

ROLAND GARROS, PARIS — In arguably the most anticipated women's match of the decade, Aryna Sabalenka defeated Iga Świątek Thursday to reach her first ever French Open final.
This was only the second ever meeting at a slam between the defining WTA players of this decade, and after two extremely tight sets, Sabalenka surged past the four-time winner and defending champion Świątek 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-0, as Świątek faded in the deciding set after having the opportunity to break Sabalenka in the opening game.
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This is Świątek's first defeat at Roland Garros since 2021 and only her third loss at the tournament in her career. It rubberstamps Sabalenka's position as the undisputed world No. 1, giving her the opportunity to win a first Roland Garros title Saturday. Victory in the final against Coco Gauff or Loïs Boisson would move her to four major titles, one behind Świątek.
And she did it the hard way after a scratchy, fiercely contested couple of sets and a swing in momentum that made it briefly look as if the match was Świątek's to lose. Sabalenka has become a master of finding her way through difficult matches, and so it proved again, as she produced a dominant deciding set to end a match that she described as 'streaky' in her on-court interview.
The first set was an undulating affair that Sabalenka took 70 minutes to win. She could have won it in half that time. The world No. 1 raced to a 3-0 lead and looked like she wanted to make a statement early.
That desire to streak away from Świątek in the opening exchanges was a double-edged sword, as Sabalenka grew frustrated whenever her opponent reeled her back in. Świątek is a four-time champion here and the finest clay-court player of her generation, so it was inevitable she would find a response. She started stepping deeper inside the baseline and going for a bit more with her returns. Sabalenka had a couple of points for 5-1, but didn't take them, and a few games later it was 4-4.
Much of the crowd were with Świątek, and Sabalenka asked for some noise for herself after ripping an inside-in forehand winner at the business end of the set. Sabalenka broke for 6-5, but got broken straight back – the story of a set in which both players returned better than they served. Both players were getting barely more than half of their first serves in, and Sabalenka won 39 percent of her second-serve points against Świątek's 33 percent. Both were frequently hitting the first shot after serving off balance and down by their shins, and Świątek in particular looked vulnerable whenever she stepped up to the line.
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To Sabalenka's credit, she shrugged off the disappointment of not taking her many chances to win the first set by crushing Świątek in the tiebreak 7-1. Świątek was dominating the longer rallies, but anything short tended to go Sabalenka's way.
Maybe going for the quick kill wasn't such a bad strategy. Świątek left the court for five minutes at the end of the set, and she was the sharper when they got back under way. Her lack of variety cost her in the first set, including at a critical moment at 3-1 down in the tiebreak when rather than going for a drop shot off a short, slow ball at the net she pushed a backhand wide. But she showed great feel at the start of the second, holding for 3-1 with a half-volley drop shot and then a beautifully controlled forehand slice that floated over for a winner off a big Sabalenka forehand. Those sorts of shots were a feature of her first win here five years ago, and to a lesser extent in 2022, but have largely evaporated since. Świątek has spoken about playing with more shape and spin, and doing so helped her wrestle back the initiative here.
She was moving better too, the familiar sound of her trainers squeaking reverberated around Court Philippe-Chatrier as she got up quickly to a couple of forehands to hold for 5-3. And the greater feel was evident when she won a volley battle with both players at the net in an important moment serving for the set. Świątek's serve was also much improved in the second set, her first-serve points won percentage jumping to 71 from 43 in the opener.
It was Sabalenka who struck first in the decider though, pummeling away at Świątek's forehand and drawing an error to break for 2-0. She raced through the next few games too, dropping just two point as she surged to a 6-0 bagel, which has been her opponent's speciality on this clay for so long.