French Open 2023: Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka advance to the semi-finals on Thursday

Women’s French Open semi-finals: Sabalenka and Swiatek to meet the unexpected

In an extraordinary turn of events, the women’s French Open has delivered two unlikely players into its semi-finals. The world number one Iga Swiatek and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka will face unseeded Karolina Muchova and Beatriz Haddad Maia respectively.

The First Semi-Final – A Dream Come True for Karolina Muchova

Karolina Muchova is a player who was ranked outside of the top 200 as recently as September last year. Today she finds herself in her first-ever Grand Slam semi-final, facing off against Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka.

Sabalenka has been under pressure lately to distance herself from Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko due to his involvement in military support for Russia during the invasion of Ukraine. But that hasn’t stopped her from reaching at least the semis in all four Grand Slams now.

Muchova had made it to quarterfinals before at Wimbledon but had dropped down to 235th in rankings after being out of action for seven months with an abdominal injury. However, she managed a massive victory over eighth seed Maria Sakkari in Paris’ opening round before making it this far.

Swiatek Continues Her Fine Form at Roland Garros

Iga Swiatek is seeded first having won here previously both times; however, no set drop yet indicates her current form better than anything else can say about her game style on clay. She faces Beatriz Haddad Maia, who had never made it beyond the third round of a Grand Slam before this tournament.

Brazilian Haddad Maia served a 10-month doping suspension that ended in 2020 and was involved in a near four-hour epic against Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo in the last 16 before fighting back to secure her spot today here at Roland Garros.

The Final – A Clash Between Two Giants

Should they meet in the final then not only would Sabalenka have overtaken Swiatek in rankings if she lost on Wednesday but also world number one position will be on line with Swiatek’s 62-week run at the top under threat.

In conclusion, what we can say is that no matter what happens next, these semi-finals are going to be an exciting watch for all tennis enthusiasts out there!