Muchova Sweeps Into French Open Semi-Finals

Karolina Muchova has moved through to the final four at the French Open after defeating resurgent former French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The unseeded Muchova won 7-5 6-2 on Tuesday to march into the semi-finals at Roland Garros for the first time in her career.

Her only previous Grand Slam semi-final appearance came at the 2021 Australian Open, where she lost to Jennifer Brady.

The early exchanges in front of a sparse Court Philippe Chatrier crowd saw Muchova begin brightly with an early break before Pavlyuchenkova sprung to life to draw level at 3-3.

With proceedings all squared, Muchova pinned her 31-year-old Russian back with some deep groundstrokes to clinch the opening set.

She then built a commanding 5-1 lead in the second set which Pavlyuchenkova tried to reduce using her powerful groundstrokes, but had her comeback hopes dashed when she fired a shot wide as Muchova closed out the match. 

"It's been an incredible two weeks and I'm just glad I'm still in the competition," Muchova said in her on-court interview.

The result means that she will battle world number two Aryna Sabalenka for a place in the final.

"She's a great player. Very aggressive. Tough match ahead," said Muchova on facing Sabalenka. 

"I'll try to do my best to find a way to make it complicated for her."

The last meeting between the pair ended with Sabalenka winning 7-5 7-6(4) in the semifinals of the WTA Elite Trophy in 2019.