2023-06-08 18:16:05
Since the start of the season, three players have dominated women’s tennis. Polish Iga Swiatek, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and Kazakh Elena Rybakina. Together, they have won seven tournaments and met four times in the final, including that of the Australian Open in January (victory of Sabalenka over Rybakina). Over the past twelve months, this “Big 3” which has not yet said its name has won the last four Grand Slam tournaments. After Rybakina, ill, withdrew in the third round, Roland-Garros 2023 seemed to be destined for a new final between Swiatek and Sabalenka, like this spring in Stuttgart and Madrid. It was reckoning without Karolina Muchova.
The Czech, 26 and only 46th in the world, caused a real sensation when she defeated world number two Aryna Sabalenka in three sets 7-6 6-7 7-5 after saving a match point when she was trailed 5-2 in the final set. Karolina Muchova, who had never done better than a third round at Roland Garros (but still a semi-final at the Australian Open in 2021), will play her first Grand Slam final on Saturday against Iga Swiatek or the Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, who did not enter the court until 6:30 p.m. as the first semi-final, lasting 3:12, was long and indecisive.
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Create uncertainty
This match will go down in history for its many reversals of the situation (break and unbreak in each round, two tie-breaks, a match point saved) but also for the opposition of style between the two players. Throughout the game, Karolina Muchova never stopped daring, varying, moving forward, creating uncertainty in her opponent’s mind and insinuating doubt into tennis. very regular and rhythmic from Sabalenka.
Spotted for some time now in the women’s circuit, Muchova’s game is inspired by a certain… Roger Federer. “I watched him a lot, explained the native of Olomouc, Moravia, after her victory in the quarter-finals on Tuesday over the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. I loved his aggressive game, his way of going to the net, his slices. I like this style of play, I like to work on it to improve it.
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Since her founding victory in the final of the Australian Open, Aryna Sabalenka is no longer this player with an impressive physique but too fragile a mind. The Belarusian had the best results so far this season (three titles, twelve consecutive Grand Slam victories and only five defeats) and could envisage becoming world number one. Sign of this new confidence, the way she knew how to turn the public in her favor after her quarter-final against Elina Svitolina on Tuesday.
Knowing that the Ukrainian would refuse to shake her hand (due to her nationality), she pointedly came to the net. From passive, she became active. From guilty, she became a victim. The audience whistled Svitolina.
The strongest crack
In the second set, Sabalenka was no longer that collector of double faults (she holds the record for one season), a blemish she cured by modifying her gesture and slowing down her routine before the second serve. The Belarusian was serving hard, hitting hard, screaming hard. Faced with Muchova’s surprise tennis, she gave the feeling again of not wanting to suffer and above all not wanting to think. During the exchanges, she did not intend to dialogue with her opponent. She fired knocks that called for no response.
But Karolina Muchova had her say and, until the end, wanted it to be known. Several times, we thought she was left behind and each time she came back. When things are not going well, Aryna Sabalenka does the same, but stronger. Muchova tried something else. “In training, my coach does not impose a particular tactic on me, she explained on Tuesday, he leaves me my freedom of appreciation. My first options aren’t always my best moves. There is always a plan B, a plan C. We try and consider the possibilities available to us. We see how it works on the court.”
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Patience and length of time are more than strength or rage. Under pressure, Sabalenka lost her first ball, then her nerves. Two double faults and a series of unforced errors in the last game caused his loss. Karolina Muchova had wooden thighs, dark circles under her eyes, she looked like she had taken ten years but she was in the Roland-Garros final. “I don’t really know what happened. Everyone supported me so I hung on, I fought and I ended up winning.
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