With both Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek still in the tournament at the semi final stage, the predicted and fitting end to the clay season on the women’s side is still on the cards. Both women have underdog opponents in the semi final with Karolina Muchova standing in the way of the Belarussian, who currently stands at 12-0 in slam matches this year. The pair have only met once before with Sabalenka winning in two tight sets in 2019, when the No.2 was ranked outside the Top 10.
Muchova now has semi finals at two of the four slams, following her Australian Open 2021 run with this one. The Czech has played some smart tennis throughout, reaping the rewards of a kind draw that began after she took out eighth seed Maria Sakkari in round one. It was a fairly comfortable for her in the quarters with Muchova breaking Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova five times in the 7-5 6-2 win.
Sabalenka put in a very professional display to see off an in-form Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-4. She remained solid throughout against the counterpunching of the Ukrainian and maintained her composure in what could have been a highly emotive match. She has now made the semi finals of all four slams and it would be no surprise were she to have improved that record to all finals at least by the end of the year. She hit 30 winners to Svitolina’s 7, with the match all on her racquet as expected. “When I was a kid, I practiced a lot on the clay, more than on hard court. I feel very comfortable on the clay, and hopefully I can go as far as I can here at Roland Garros.” she said.
Muchova will offer a different threat to Svitolina, even if there isn’t too much difference power wise. She will hope to use her smarts to move Sabalenka a lot more and disturb the rhythm in a much different way. However, it’s hard to see anyone but Iga Swiatek being able to beat Sabalenka in this form. She is hitting the ball too well right now and remaining composed despite all the off court attention she is receiving right now. The dip that came in Sabalenka’s matches in previous years is no longer guaranteed and without it, it is very difficult to withstand the barrage coming from the other side of the court.
Prediction – Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets
