Karolína Mukhova defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (7-5) and (6-2) to reach the semifinals of the French Open for the first time in her career on Tuesday. In the semifinals, the Czech player Mukhova will face either second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus or former world number three Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. Mukhova stated, "I don't really know what to say. I've had two amazing weeks, and I'm so happy that I'm still in the tournament," adding, "I will definitely follow the match between Sabalenka and Svitolina. I'm not sure if I'll watch it live, but I'm sure another big match awaits me in two days."
Mukhova caught the spotlight in Paris this year when she surprisingly defeated eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari in the first round. The 26-year-old unseeded player started today's match on the Philippe Chatrier court with an early break of serve. However, Pavlyuchenkova, who has fallen to 333rd in the world due to a knee injury that kept her out of action for seven months last year, returned to the match and leveled the score at (3-3). After another exchange of breaks, Mukhova forced her 31-year-old opponent to retreat with powerful shots to secure the first set under the strong sunlight.
Mukhova appeared stronger in the second set, asserting her dominance and leading (5-1) before Pavlyuchenkova attempted to rally back. However, Mukhova did not give her opponent any opportunities and closed out the match while serving, celebrating her victory after an error from Pavlyuchenkova.
