After successfully devoting the past few years of her life to becoming a more well-rounded player and mentally durable individual, Aryna Sabalenka arrived on court for her second French Open semi-final certain that she was finally ready for more. No challenge, not even the task of ending an era of total dominance at Roland Garros, felt beyond her.
In the face of her greatest rival on the court Iga Swiatek has made her own, Sabalenka converted her phenomenal form and fortitude into one of the most significant victories of her career, as she held her nerve in three delicious, tension-filled sets to topple the four-time French Open champion 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 and reach the final at Roland Garros for the first time.
Saturday’s final will be a tussle between the top two players after Coco Gauff, the No 2 seed, put an end to Loïs Boisson’s fairytale run to the semi-finals by ruthlessly dismantling the local wildcard 6-1, 6-2 to reach her second French Open final and third major final overall.
Having entered her first grand slam tournament with a wildcard and a modest ranking of No 361, Boisson has produced one of the most surprising grand slam runs in history, defeating the world No 3, Jessica Pegula, and the No 6, Mirra Andreeva, en route to the last four. Gauff, who has been the most consistent player during the clay-court season with finals in Madrid, Rome and now Roland Garros, proved a step too far.
“I couldn’t manage to get my game going, but apart from today’s match, which wasn’t all positive, the tournament as a whole was very positive,” said Boisson. “And even today it’s all positive, even though, you know, it is disappointing but she was just too tough for me.”
Despite long being considered a player who thrives on all surfaces, Sabalenka’s sixth career grand slam decider marks the world No 1’s first final appearance away from her favoured hard courts. Swiatek’s incredible 26-match winning streak at Roland Garros and her pursuit of an unprecedented fourth consecutive French Open title comes to an end.
“It was a big match, and it felt like a final, but I know that the job is not done yet, and I have to go out there on Saturday, and I have to fight and I have to bring my best tennis, and I have to work for that title,” said Sabalenka. “I’m ready. I’m ready to go out, and I’m ready to fight. And I’m ready to do everything it’s going to take to get the win.”
Although Sabalenka and Swiatek have established an era-defining rivalry in women’s tennis over the past few years, only one of their previous 12 meetings had occurred at a grand slam tournament. The significance of this heavyweight bout was told by the dramatic, emotionally exhausting battle that followed.
While Swiatek has spent this tournament trying hard to rediscover her best form after a difficult period, Sabalenka has looked perfectly at ease throughout. She has worked tirelessly on her game in recent years, evolving from a one-note shotmaker into a complex attacking player with variation and restraint. Her mental transformation has been even more essential, with the 27-year-old growing from an impulsive and over-emotional competitor to a player who remains composed under pressure.
The challenge of facing Swiatek on the Pole’s favoured surface offered Sabalenka every reason to lose her composure. After taking apart Swiatek’s pitiful serve early on, her own serve crumbled under pressure from her opponent’s returns in a turbulent first set, but Sabalenka kept her cool and closed out an excellent tie-break. Then, in the second set, the tide turned rapidly as Swiatek played her most assured stretch of attacking tennis. As she has done so often over the past 18 months, Sabalenka shrugged off her disappointment, reasserted pressure on her great rival and did not let up throughout a flawless final set.
“The way the third set went, it’s actually shocking for me, to be honest,” said Sabalenka. “I’m super happy that I found the rhythm on my serve, and it was much easier after I figured I’m in control of my serve, and also I put so much pressure on her serve.”
One day after the French crowd had first made its presence felt with an impromptu rendition of the national anthem before Boisson’s stunning victory over Andreeva, they punctuated every shot of the warm-up with a cry of “olé” while Gauff’s introduction to the crowd immediately generated scattered boos.
Unlike Pegula and Andreeva, however, Gauff maintained her composure and she blunted the French crowd with her own brilliance to reach another major final. “I tried to block it all out,” Gauff said. “When you guys were chanting her name, I was saying to myself my name.”
