Mumbai: Aryna Sabalenka is frequently seen engaging in lively conversation with her player box during her games. There was no change on Thursday. She was behind Iga Swiatek by a score of 5-4, having been just one point short of taking the lead with a score of 5-1.

The grievances became more lengthy. However, she then began to ramble to herself. She exclaimed, "Come on, fight." Repeatedly.

And that's what she did.

The semifinal of the French Open was advertised as an exciting battle between the top players in the world. The top seed is Swiatek, the three-time defending champion. Together, they were two of the most dominant players in this era of women's tennis, having won seven of the previous twelve Grand Slams between them. This was the last one before the last one. They both had a point to make.

However, Sabalenka defeated Swiatek 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-0 in a rainy Paris under the covered roof of Court Philippe Chatrier.

“It feels amazing, but the work is not over yet. I’m just thrilled with the performance today with this win,” Sabalenka said in her post-match interview on court. “She’s the toughest opponent, especially on clay, especially at Roland Garros. The game was difficult and complicated.

Sabalenka advanced to her sixth major final in her previous nine Grand Slam appearances with the victory, guaranteeing a new French Open champion this year. Her fifth final in the previous six slams she has competed in is also her five.

In the second semi-final, she will face American player Coco Gauff, who defeated French wild card Lois Boisson 6-1, 6-2.

The 27-year-old is a three-time Grand Slam winner from Minsk. However, all of those victories have been on hard surfaces. Although Sabalenka is by no means at ease on clay, she was seeking strategies to overcome the perception that she is exclusively a hard court expert.

At the French Open this year, Sabalenka has been in excellent shape, winning every game in straight sets prior to Thursday. However, even if the Pole had not achieved the best results by her standards coming into the competition, it would still require something unique to defeat Swiatek in Paris.

Since being banned in November for a month due to a positive drug test, Swiatek has had trouble regaining her form. Since she won her fifth Grand Slam and fourth title in France last year, she has struggled with form and has not been able to win a title.

However, the four-time champion of the French Open was able to find a groove in this year's tournament. She also fought back from a 4-1 deficit to win the first set and then win the second set, forcing the match to go to a decisive set.

But Sabalenka stuck to her plans and stayed consistent. The Belarusian hit powerful returns and appeared to want to end rallies quickly. In fact, 81 of the 97 points she earned were from rallies of four shots or less. Additionally, Sabalenka gained a large number of those points by hitting behind Swiatek, forcing the Pole to the backfoot.

In the second set, Swiatek performed better after a shaky start. Winning the second should have put the former world at ease. At the top of the list and in a strong position as we approach the third. However, Sabalenka was able to recover fast.

In the third set, Sabalenka only dropped three points on her serve and made no unforced mistakes. In contrast, Swiatek scored just six points throughout the set, with none of them coming from her eight second serves.

"I'm happy I discovered my serve, and it was a little bit simpler with it," Sabalenka said of the third set. "And 6-0, what can I say, it couldn't be more perfect than that."

She broke Swiatek's 26-match winning streak at the French Open, becoming only the third player to have done so, following Simona Halep (2019) and Maria Sakkari (2021).

However, as she stated, the triumph was significant, but the goal has yet to be achieved.

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