Czech Republic

Karolina Muchova

Belarus

Aryna Sabalenka

Sobolenko will start the match better and win the first set

The Roland Garros semi-final match between Karolina Mukhova and Arina Sobolenko will take place on 8 June. Who will be stronger? The Minsk native is in great shape. Sobolenko played five matches at Roland Garros and won only one set via a tie-break. In addition, this season Arina has won five out of five matches in the semi-finals. At three previous WGs Arina Sobolenko has finished in the third round. Now she has reached the semi-finals without dropping a single set along the way. Sobolenko became the first tennis player since Serena Williams to start the season with 12 straight Grand Slam victories. Mukhova will play in the TBS semifinals for the second time in her career. The previous was two years ago at the Australian Open. The former world No. 19 spent six months nursing a serious injury and since returning last season she has only once reached the quarterfinals of the WTA 250 series. This year, things are different. In particular, Mukhova has been in the top eight at the Thousanders in Dubai and Indian Wells. On the one hand, Mukhova was lucky with the tournament grid, but on the other hand, she had to defend her ambitions already at the start of the tournament route. In the first round, she beat ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece 2-0 (7-6, 7-5), and in the third round she took revenge on Irina Begu of Romania for her defeat in Madrid, beating her opponent 2-0 (6-3, 6-2). At Roland Garros, 189 of Mukhova's 299 first serves were accurate, winning 124 of them (65.61%). Sobolenko is having the best season of her career. With victories at Adelaide I and the subsequent TBS - Australian Open, the Belarusian moved up to the second place in the WTA rankings, repeating the best result of her career. Arina finished her hardcourt stretch by reaching the finals in Indian Wells. On clay, Sobolenko shows more confidence. In Stuttgart she reached the finals, in which she lost to Iga Schwiontek 0:2 (3:6; 4:6), but in Madrid she took her revenge against the Polish player - 2:1 (6:3; 3:6; 6:3). At Roland Garros Arina was well on her way to the semifinals, having given away just 34 games. Sobolenko will start the match confidently and win the first set.