The eagerly anticipated Iga Swiatek-Aryna Sabalenka final will not happen after failing at the final hurdle but there still is the potential for an exciting match with Karolina Muchova hoping to pull off the shock win in her first slam final. Swiatek will be going into her second straight match with a losing head-to-head although there is very little to learn from the only meeting between the two here. Muchova won on the clay of Prague back in 2019, when neither woman was ranked inside the top 90.
Check out the Swiatek vs Muchova Prediction:
Any suggestions that Muchova was just the beneficiary of a weaker draw can be put to one side now after her epic victory over Aryna Sabalenka in the semis. Down 2-5 *30-40 in the deciding set, she took advantage of a collapse by the World No.2 to seal a 7-6 6-7 7-5 victory in just over three hours. She played smart tennis throughout and seized her opportunity late, winning 20 of the last 24 points. “It just shows me that I can play against [the Top 3]. I can compete, and obviously the matches are super close. Even today, match ball down, you really never know if I win or lose, but it’s great to know that I have the chance to win, and I win against the top players, and that for sure boosts my confidence.” she said after the win that saw her improve to 5-0 against Top 3 players.
With a 6-2 7-6 win against Beatriz Haddad Maia, Swiatek is back in the French Open final for the third time. She has yet to drop a set at the tournament although this was the closest shave so far. She had to save set point in the tiebreak, winning four of the last five points to close out the match from *5-6. “It was a tough match, and especially second set, every point counted. It was stressful in some moments, so I’m happy that I was really solid and I was able to close it in the tiebreaker.” said the Pole.
Swiatek will be the heavy favourite in this one, especially after Muchova finished the match in pain after going for so long. The Czech does have a lot of variety in her game that could make things difficult for a while but there will have to be a point when she needs to hit through Swiatek, something that is a tough ask even when fully fit and rested. The World No.1 is going to be much better at retrieving the ball throughout and will not give up cheap errors in the same way as Sabalenka and others have done previously. She has not dropped a set in her three grand slam finals so far and it will take a fine effort from Muchova to change that record on Saturday afternoon.
Prediction – Iga Swiatek in straight sets
