PARIS – No. 1 Arena Sabalenka reached the final for the first time in Paris after Iga Swietek’s 26-match unbeaten French Open winning streak, using her pure strength to dominate the stretch, winning the semi-finals 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 on Thursday.
Sabalenka’s victory prevented Swiatek from becoming the first woman to win four consecutive championships in the Clay Court Grand Slam tournament since the experts were recognized in 1968.
It also gives Sabalenka the opportunity to win her fourth major title. And then he first left the hard court and won two at the Australian Open and one at the US Open.
“It feels incredible, but I also understand that my work is not finished,” said Sabalenka, 27, from Belarus, who was ranked top WTA by Swiatek in October. “She’s the toughest opponent, especially in Clay, especially at Roland Garos. I’m proud to have been able to get this victory. It was a tough match…but I managed it.”
Sabalenka will face No. 2 Coco Gauff or 361 rank French wildcard entry Lois Boisson on his last Saturday.
Nodding to Boisson’s status as a home favorite, Sabalenka joked to the crowd in a post-match interview: “I’m sure you’ll be cheering for one person like Crazy. I don’t know if she really wants to win.”
Most notable about Sabalenka’s victory was perhaps the way she ruled at Crunch time and ran through the final set.
“I mean, six love,” she said. “What can I say? I couldn’t be more perfect.”
With the roof of Philip Chatelier closed on a drizzle day, there was no wind or other element that players would face, both of which produced great tennis for stretching. Ultimately, the difference was that when Sabalenka decided to swing, she rushed Sweets to a mistake.
The third set included 12 forced errors from the Swiatek racket and Sabalenka’s zeros.
“It’s not even perfect,” Sabalenka said of her third set performance. “I’m so proud right now. I’m glad I found a serve.”
This continues the rough stretch of Swiatek, 24, from Poland. He hasn’t reached the finals in any tournament since walking back-to-back trophy from Paris (the fifth overall Grand Slam title) 12 months ago. She recently skated to #5 in the rankings.
Her rut includes an incredible exit in the semi-finals at the 2024 Summer Olympics, contested at Roland Garros. She was awarded a bronze medal. Later last season, she was banned for a month after testing positive for a banned substance. Her explanation was accepted that the outcome was not intentional and caused by contaminated drugs.
Sabelanka is definitely as good as you can get in women’s tennis now.
Even before reaching this final, her six appearances in this year’s title match was the most for a woman who entered the French Open since Serena Williams in 2013.
And her first strike tennis is always such a threat on faster surfaces, and is clearly very useful in slower clay. The sound produced by contact with the ball echoed from inside the retractable roof.
Sabalenka broke in the first game and quickly led 4-1, but at that point Swiatek was looking up at her coach Wim Fissette in the stands. Swiatek was to lead 5-4 on that set, but when they reached the tiebreaker, Sabalenka insisted on herself.
Swiatek had a long trip to the locker room before the second set. She often did after giving in, played better, quickly bumped 1-0, with Sabalenka reaffirming her advantage in the final.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to the report.
