Aryna Sabalenka has dethroned defending champion Iga Swiatek winning 7-6(1) 4-6 6-0 as she reached her first Roland Garros final.
The world number one overcame a poor showing in the first two sets to cruise through the final set.
Swiatek produced a good performance but couldn’t stop her 26 match winning streak from ending at Roland Garros.
In her first Roland Garros final, Sabalenka will play either world number two Coco Gauff or wildcard Lois Boisson.
In the first set both players played poorly on serve at different times as they seemed to be irritated by the level of inconsistency.
The first to strike was Sabalenka who took the opening three games and went up a double break at 4-1.
Swiatek was struggling on serve, making double faults and producing second serves that sat up and allowed Sabalenka to take full advantage.
However, Swiatek is a four-time champion for a reason and the Pole improved the quality of her returning especially on the forehand side.
This put pressure on Sabalenka and the world number one crumbled under pressure with a double fault at the start and at the end of the eighth game seeing Swiatek get back level at 4-4.
There were signs of the Sabalenka of old as the top seed was starting to get irritated and that showed in her level as she started to miss simple returns on the backhand side.
An angry Sabalenka was remonstrating with her team as Swiatek struck to take a 5-4 lead.
That anger grew even stronger when she produced a phenomenal service game the game after with Sabalenka probably thinking why she didn’t do that about 20 minutes later.
After breaking again for a 6-5 lead, Sabalenka couldn’t close out the set and slipped at a crucial moment in the game.
The defending champion took full advantage, forcing an opening set tiebreak.
There was a feeling though that this match was on Sabalenka’s racket and the top seed managed to string a run of world-class points to take the tiebreak 7-1 in a 69 minute set.
As expected there was an emphatic response from Swiatek who put pressure on Sabalenka’s serve to break in the opening game.
Despite being broken in the following game, Swiatek stuck to her ferocious forehands and forced errors from Sabalenka as she was ruthless in order to break again for 2-1.
A frustrated Sabalenka couldn’t manage to control her errors on return in what was a much better set from Swiatek on serve.
The defending champion was precise with her power and accuracy as she adjusted her court positioning.
A hold to love secured the perfect set from Swiatek, securing the second set 6-4 and levelling the match at one set all.
This match was set up perfectly for the final set and both players delivered in the opening two games, going toe-to-toe with each other.
However, Swiatek failed to take her chances and lost both games which affected her confidence for the rest of the set.
The world number one took full advantage stepping up the aggression on the backhand and forcing errors from Swiatek.
An incredible final set was produced as Sabalenka cruised her way through the final set to seal her place in a first Roland Garros final.
After the match Sabalenka said she feels proud but understands the job isn’t done yet, “I’m just thrilled with my performance today and with the win,” the world number one was quoted by the BBC sport website as saying in her on-court interview.
“Iga [Swiatek] is the toughest opponent, especially on the clay and at Roland Garros. I’m proud that I was able to get this win. It was a tough match, it was tricky, but I managed it somehow and I’m super proud right now.
“Honestly it feels incredible, but I also understand the job is not done yet.”
The win for Sabalenka ends Iga Swiatek’s remarkable 26 match winning streak at the event with the Pole still without a title this season.
As for Sabalenka, the world number one will play Coco Gauff or Lois Boisson in Saturday’s final.
