By Tony Fairbairn
- Iga Swiatek [1] v Beatriz Haddad Maia [14]
- Aryna Sabalenka [2] v Karolina Muchova
PARIS, FRANCE – Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka look to overcome awkward semi-final tests in a bid to set up the dream final at Roland Garros.
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Iga Swiatek [1] v Beatriz Haddad Maia [14] | H2H: Haddad Maia leads 1-0
Iga Swiatek has once again showed her dominance at Roland Garros as she is yet to lose a set this year in Paris. Swiatek’s seventh consecutive victory over Coco Gauff sent out another statement to the rest of the field as the world number one is now two wins away from successfully defending her title. Standing in Swiatek’s way is Beatriz Haddad Maia who is the first Brazilian woman in the open era to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals after a gruelling week and a half was sealed with a landmark victory over Ons Jabeur in the last eight.
H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Iga Swiatek [1] v Beatriz Haddad Maia [14] | H2H: Haddad Maia leads 1-0 |
| Roland Garros 2023 | Paris, France |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €630,000 |
| Third on Court Philippe-Chatrier (15:30 BST) | Discovery+ Add-on via Amazon Prime Sign up for 30 day free trial of Prime Video and a 7 day free trial of Discovery+ Player |
Despite injury concerns, Swiatek has continued to dominate at Roland Garros as she has won all eight sets that she has played so far in Paris. Now Swiatek looks to successfully defend her title at Roland Garros and continue to prove that she is a dominant world number one.
Next for Swiatek is Haddad Maia after the Brazilian is into her first Grand Slam semi-final, becoming the first Brazilian women in the open era to reach the final at Roland Garros. Haddad Maia has had to battle her way to the last four with three of her matches lasting longer than two and a half hours and now the Brazilian looks to continue to battle to reach a maiden Grand Slam final.
After her quarter-final win, Swiatek admitted it can be tricky to play as defending champion but having experience helps settle into tournaments quickly.
“I would say the beginnings of the tournaments are a little bit more tricky,” Swiatek told the Roland Garros website.
“Later you can just kind of play your game because you also feel a little bit more. Yeah, just getting into the rhythm is the toughest part and you kind of have to just progress a little bit, but keep it good…
“It happens sometimes in tournaments where I was winning matches pretty easily and then I just continued, you know. I feel like in terms of having these couple of tougher situations and really important points, you’re just not going to feel rusty when it happens again. I didn’t feel rusty today anyway, but it’s good to have the experience.”
As for Haddad Maia, the 14th seed praised the support of the crowd and her team for making history.
“I’d like to thank everybody who came today to support me, especially the Brazilians,” Haddad Maia said to the Roland Garros website.
“I think in Grand Slams we have the chance to recover for one day, so I had a day off and I have an amazing team. I think we work all year long to be in this moment.
“I remember in the middle of the second set, my coach showed me the clock, it was one hour and a half, and I thought, ‘OK maybe I have two more hours’. I had to be patient, she’s one of the best players in the world. I’m very happy with me and my team today.”
Swiatek will look to continue her high quality returning as she looks to use the angles to set up effective forehand winners. Meanwhile Haddad Maia will look to use her consistent backhand and efficient transition game to turn defence into attack.
This will be a match between two confident players with Haddad Maia more than capable of playing the long game to force errors from Swiatek. However the Pole will not commit unforced errors and the world number one should have too much quality as a third Roland Garros final beckons.
Prediction: Swiatek in straight sets.
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Aryna Sabalenka [2] v Karolina Muchova | H2H: Sabalenka leads 1-0
Aryna Sabalenka’s clay court season continues to get batter as the second seed has followed a run to the Madrid title with a run to the semi-finals in Paris. The Australian Open champion is in confident form as was shown against Elina Svitolina and Sabalenka will now hope a second Grand Slam title in the space of five months is on the cards. Standing in Sabalenka’s way is Karolina Muchova who has backed up her opening round win over Maria Sakkari with a stunning run to the Roland Garros semi-finals as she now looks to reach a maiden Grand Slam final.
H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Aryna Sabalenka [2] v Karolina Muchova | H2H: Sabalenka leads 1-0 |
| Roland Garros 2023 | Paris, France |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €630,000 |
| Second on Court Philippe-Chatrier (Not before 14:00 BST) | Discovery+ Add-on via Amazon Prime Sign up for 30 day free trial of Prime Video and a 7 day free trial of Discovery+ Player |
Sabalenka has continued her incredible start to the season in Paris having not dropped a set so far on her way to the last four. Now having reached her first Roland Garros semi-final, Sabalenka will look for her second Grand Slam of the season as she looks to challenge Swiatek for the world number one spot.
Standing in Sabalenka’s way is Muchova who has continued to show impressive form having backed up her win over Sakkari with three consistent performances. The Czech Republican’s victory over former finalist Anastasia Pavlychenkova was a perfect example of Muchova’s consistency as she looks for a first Grand Slam final.
After the match Sabalenka admits she’s getting better with each match and is looking forward to a battle against Muchova.
“I think for me, it’s better to focus on myself, my game,” Sabalenka told the Roland Garros website.
“If I feel like I have to go for my shots, then I’ll go for it, no matter the score. Of course we prepare tactics, but during the match it depends on the score, depends on the game, if I need to change it a little bit.
“On the court I feel really good, with every match I feel like I’m getting better and better. I’m just focusing on myself and trying to bring my best tennis to the court.
“Yeah I’ve seen her matches, she’s playing really great tennis and winning against a lot of tough opponents, fighting for every point, moving very well, playing great clay court tennis. So it’s going to be a great battle and I’m really looking forward to it.”
As for Muchova, she spoke about drawing Sakkari in the opening round and admits she’s pleased with her journey so far.
“I don’t know what to say – it’s been an incredible two weeks and I’m just glad I’m still in the competition,” Muchova told the Roland Garros website.
“When I saw it, it was a little bit funny because we played her two years in a row. I knew it was going to be very tough and we played on the same court so it was like déjà vu but it was a great match – I’m happy with the way I played and how I have come through the tournament.”
Sabalenka will look to continue to be aggressive as she will aim to make a high percentage of first serves and dictate the tempo of the match. Meanwhile Muchova looks to use the slice to neutralise the point as she will look for the shorter balls to hit winners from the forehand side.
This will be a match between two different strategies as Muchova will look to test Sabalenka’s power under pressure. In the end Sabalenka’s consistent quality should prevail in a very intriguing semi-final.
Prediction: Sabalenka in three sets.
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