Roland Garros: 5 things we learned on Day 12 - Muchova tenacity

Unseeded Czech Karolina Muchova stared at the abyss during her semi-final with second seed Aryna Sabalenka but managed to win. Afterwards Sabalenka was asked to respond to a question that might have sent her into the same realm.

Karolina Muchova reached her first final at a Grand Slam tournament following a three-set win over the" second seed Aryna Sabalenka. © Pierre René-Worms/RFI

Comeback 

A modicum of happiness for Miyu Kato from Japan. She won the mixed doubles title with partner Tim Puetz from Germany. They beat Bianca Andreescu and Michael Venus in a third set tiebreak. On Day 7, she was disqualified from the women’s doubles after a ball she hit between points slapped into a ball girl. Even though it was an accident, there was no leniency. She has appealed for her prize money and her ranking points to be restored to her. But while she waits for a response from the French tennis federation – which organizes the exgtravaganza, she and Puetz can share the 122,000 euros in prize money.  

Time 

Iga Swiatek was put in a rather strange position during her semi-final. Opponent Beatriz Haddad Maia had the impertinence to win six games against her and take her into the tiebreak in the second set. The effrontery of even having a set point. It wasn’t enough though and the top seed edged the shootout 9-7 to take the set and the match 6-2, 7-6. 

Never over with Muchova 

Serving at 2-5 down in the third set against the all-action Aryna Sabalenka, the unseeded Czech Karolina Muchova looked rather down especially when she coughed up a match point. “I was focusing honestly on another point and try to put great serve,” she recounted later. “And that worked.” The rest was Sabalenka going rogue in the face of victory. Completely messed up her service to take the match at 5-3 and went country club ingénue at 5-5 with double faults and sloppy shots. “I got on the wave, on the better wave, I would say,” added Muchova. “I could see that she was struggling a little bit and doing fast mistakes. I was just trying to keep her there.” Kind of cruel. 

Oh my .. and then 

After self-detonating on court in front of Karolina Muchova as well as thousands of fans and millions of TV viewers, one reporter asked Aryna Sabalenka if it was correct that she was no longer supporting the president of her country Aleksandr Lukashenko. “Do you feel safe with that statement? Are you fine with it? What are your thoughts?” inquired the curious hack. Though she had melted down on court, she didn’t want to be melted down. “I don't want to talk about politics today,” Sabalenka insisted. “I made all my statements. Let's just talk about tennis. Give me some rest, please, from politics.” 

Progress 

There was a show on British TV during the 1970s called the Generation Game with a compere called Bruce Forsyth. The climax of the show would involve someone watching prizes pass on a conveyor belt and then having 45 seconds to recall them to win them. At the end - depending on their booty - Brucie would bellow out: “Didn’t he/she do well? In April 2019 in the first round at the Prague Open, Karolina Muchova, who had been given an invitation to the tournamlent, took on a certain Polish teenager who had emerged from the qualifying tournament. Just over four years later they will walk out onto centre court at the Roalnd Garros stadium to fight for one of the most prestigious titles on the circuit and a winner's cheque for 2.3 million euros. Girls done good - to brutalise a catch phrase from a British football TV pundit.