Karolina Muchova produced a stunning comeback in the final set to defeat world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday and secure a spot in the French Open final.
Muchova, the last unseeded player left in either the men's or women's draw, saved a match point before fighting back from 5-2 down in the deciding set to seal a 7-6, 6-7, 7-5 win following three hours and 13 minutes of enthralling tennis.
The 26-year-old Czech added Sabalenka to an impressive list of victims in Paris, which included eighth seed Maria Sakkari in the first round and 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarter-final.
At 43 in the world, she is the fourth lowest-ranked woman to reach the final in Paris – where she will take on either world No 1 Iga Swiatek or 14th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia – while it is the fifth year in a row that the final will feature an unseeded player.
Muchova is only the third player ranked outside the top 40 to reach the final at Roland Garros after Jelena Ostapenko (2017) and Swiatek (2020), who both went on to win their respective finals.
For Australian Open champion Sabalenka, defeat ended her run of 12 successive match wins at the Slams as the Belarusian paid a heavy price for 53 unforced errors while the versatile Muchova saved nine of 13 break points.
Defeat also ended the 25-year-old's hopes of taking over as world No 1 as Sabalenka would have replaced Swiatek at the top of the rankings by lifting the title in France.
“I don't really know what happened,” a beaming Muchova said. “The atmosphere, the people pushing me in all the match. I just keep fighting and it worked. I really don't know what happened. I am so happy.”
Asked about her versatile game she said: “I don't want to hear it, to get it into my head, to get cocky. I am trying to play my game. I am so glad it worked so well.”
The Czech was playing in her second Slam semi-final having also reached the last four at the Australian Open in 2021, but injuries severely restricted her last year, with her ranking dropping outside the top 200.
Muchova, who can now break into the top 10 by winning Saturday's final, dug deep to save two break points in the fourth game of the opening set against Sabalenka.
Her clever angles countered the raw power of Sabalenka, taking her to set point in the 10th game.
She was unable to convert that opportunity but made no mistake at the second time of asking, a wrong-footing, deep backhand giving her the set via a tiebreak after 68 minutes on court. It was the first set Sabalenka had dropped at the tournament.
Muchova was 2-0 ahead and sensing a shock triumph in the second set but Sabalenka battled back, overcoming double-faulting on a first set point in the tiebreak to level the semi-final on the second.
Suddenly the momentum was with the Belarusian who broke for 4-2 in the decider after seeing four break points come and go in the second game.
Muchova appeared doomed to wilt under the barrage. However, she saved a match point in the eighth game before incredibly racing away with the last five games to claim a famous win.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Directed: Smeep Kang
Produced: Soham Rockstar Entertainment; SKE Production
Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Jimmy Sheirgill, Sunny Singh, Omkar Kapoor, Rajesh Sharma
Rating: Two out of five stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
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More on Quran memorisation:
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
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Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
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Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red
Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
The biog
Age: 46
Number of Children: Four
Hobby: Reading history books
Loves: Sports
Top 10 most polluted cities
- Bhiwadi, India
- Ghaziabad, India
- Hotan, China
- Delhi, India
- Jaunpur, India
- Faisalabad, Pakistan
- Noida, India
- Bahawalpur, Pakistan
- Peshawar, Pakistan
- Bagpat, India
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
