Sabalenka and Swiatek is near the French Open finals, but one must win to continue and claim the No. 1 spot
PARIS, FRANCE: Tennis stars Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, two of WTA's top players for the past three years, will have another face-off at the French Open semifinals–their seventh clay-court match. This number is the highest between two women since Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Conchita Martínez in the 1990s. What is it for Aryna Sabalenka?
Sabalenka continued to dominate the Tour and is in strong form after defeating No. 8 Zheng Qinwen with a final scoreline of 7-6(3), 6-3. This is the athlete's seventh semifinal of the season, and her 11th Grand Slam semifinal overall–the most by any player since Sharapova at Roland Garros 14 years ago.
Sabalenka embraced the World No. 1 ranking, and she remained confident and determined to go further in Paris after falling short in her previous semifinal at the event against Karolina Muchova.
With this, Sabalenka admitted, 'I love tough challenges. I think these are the matches where you actually improve as a player and where you get much stronger, and I'm always excited to face someone strong and then someone who can challenge me.
She added, 'I go out there and I fight, and I'm ready to leave everything I have to get the win.'
Currently, Sabalenka has an outstanding Gram Slam record of 89 wins and 24 losses. She also has a winning percentage of .788, coming second to Swiatek's .830.
Sabalenka is clearly ready and believes that this is her moment. What is it for Iga Swiatek?
Iga Swiatek, being the three-time defending champion, has been feeling a lot of pressure as an athlete.
However, she made an impressive comeback against Elena Rybakina, and she also defeated Elina Svitolina with a final scoreline of 6-1, 7-5. The results of these two matches showed that she remains resilient and dedicated to reaching her goals for this season.
She made an impressive comeback against Elena Rybakina and also defeated Elina Svitolina with a final scoreline of 6-1, 7-5.
Swiatek successfully finished her 26th win at the French Open, with three aces consecutively to end the match.
In her last match with Aryna Sabalenka, Sabalenka won at the Cincinnati semifinals with a 6-3, 6-3. However, Swiatek admitted that the results did not matter anymore as it happened a long time ago.
Swiatek expressed: 'For sure you need to be 100 percent… and you need to be there, but I wouldn't say it's different against Coco or against good players overall… But for sure, our rivalry is pushing both of us, I think, but it's not only about the level of tennis. It's about like everything, how we work, and how professional we are.'
Swiatek has won 40 of her 42 matches at Roland-Garros. The athlete is now hoping for her four-time French Open title, and she is committed to winning going into this match.
The question now is: Will Swiatek be successful in winning her fourth consecutive French Open title? Or will Sabalenka break this streak as she has now reached the semifinals once again? See also Netball: Singapore confident of defending Nations Cup crown
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