Spirited rally sends Karolina Muchova into French Open final

Karolina Muchova overcame a third-set deficit and reached her first Grand Slam final by upending second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday at the French Open in Paris.

Muchova, who is ranked No. 43 in the world, trailed 5-2 in the third set before winning the final five games of the match.

The 26-year-old from the Czech Republic saved a match point and benefited from consecutive double faults in the Belarusian's last service game en route to recording a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5 victory at Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Muchova ended the match in 3 hours, 13 minutes to advance to Saturday's final against the winner of the semifinal contest between top seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland and 14th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil. Haddad Maia defeated Swiatek in their lone previous encounter.

Muchova is in uncharted waters, as her previous best performance at a major was a semifinal run at the 2021 Australian Open. Her experience at Roland Garros also was not positive, as she was taken off the court in a wheelchair after sustaining an ankle injury in a third-round loss to Amanda Anisimova.

Sabalenka, the reigning Australian Open champion, saw her winning streak at Grand Slams halted at 12 matches.