14:59
Third final for Muchova
Muchova is only playing her third final on the women’s tour, having only played twice for titles in 2019. She was only successful at the 250 in Seoul. At Wimbledon, the Czech played the quarter-finals in 2019 and 2021. Her best major result comes from the Australian Open 2021, where she triumphed as a semifinalist. A few months later she climbed to number 19 in the world rankings. It never got any higher.
14:49
Muchova at Roland Garros
Muchova is also in the half field at the French Open for the fifth time since 2019. When Swiatek won the juniors in 2018, the Czech failed in the first qualifying round. Even in the years that followed, the right-hander did not tear down any trees. By the third round at the latest it was over. And now the unseeded 26-year-old made this march through to her first Grand Slam final. The Greek Maria Sakkari, who was seeded 8th, the Argentines Nadia Podorska (three sets), the Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, seeded 27th, and the Russians Elina Avanesyan and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had to give way. She pulled off a feat in the semifinals, trailing 5-2 in the third set and turning the match around against 2nd-seeded Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka while helping her opponent to stay number 1 at the same time.
14:40
The Swiatek way
In the past two weeks, Swiatek practically walked through the tournament in her fifth participation in Roland Garros and did not drop a single set. The 22-year-old had to fight hardest in the semifinals against Beatriz Haddad Maia, who was 14th. This match lasts more than two hours and ended 6:2, 7:6. Before that, she easily eliminated Spain’s Cristina Busca, USA’s Claire Liu, China’s Xinyu Wang, Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko and 6th seed Coco Gauff.
14:31
Swiatek 2023
This season, Swiatek has already played four finals and won the tournaments in Doha and Stuttgart. In total she has 17 finals, of which she won 13. In addition to the French Open, the Pole also won the US Open in 2022. There are also five 1,000 titles. Despite the successes, their status as number 1 in the world has recently come under threat. Aryna Sabalenka could have climbed the tennis throne for the first time, but failed in the semifinals.
14:21
defending champion
In this final, Iga Swiatek is preparing to defend her title from last year and would like to triumph for the third time at Roland Garros. After all, the Pole won her first Grand Slam title of 2020 right here. Strictly speaking, the 22-year-old is already fighting for her fourth title here at the facility, because in 2018 she won the junior tournament. Even then, the right-hander hinted at her potential.
14:11
bon jour!
Welcome to the French Open! In the women’s individual competition, the top two players have been eliminated. Iga Swiatek and Karolina Muchova, who were allowed to contest the grand final from 3:00 p.m., have remained from the original 128 athletes.