PARIS (AP) — Karolina Muchova is in the French Open semifinals for the first time.
The unseeded Czech defeated 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Her previous best result in Paris was the third round last year.
Pavlyuchenkova played for more than three hours in her previous match and appeared tired as she got off a sluggish start and gave away too many easy points.
She tried to fight back using her powerful groundstrokes but her hopes of a comeback were dashed when she went down 4-1 in the second set after another big forehand bounced wide.
Pavlyuchenkova missed most of the 2022 season with a knee injury. Ranked No. 333, she was the lowest-ranked woman to reach the Roland Garros quarterfinals in the Open Era, and the lowest at any Grand Slam since 2017.
Muchova has also been slowed by an injuries as an abdominal problem forced her to rest for six months after the 2021 U.S. Open. She damaged an ankle during her third-round match at Roland Garros last year.
Muchova will be playing her second semifinal at a major after making it that far at the Australian Open two years ago.
Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka was to play Elina Svitolina in Tuesday’s other women’s quarterfinal.
Sabalenka is from Belarus, and Svitolina — playing in her first major since becoming a mother — is from Ukraine. Belarus aided Russia in its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the war continues. Like other players from Ukraine, including Sabalenka’s first-round opponent last week, Svitolina has not been shaking hands with players from Belarus or Russia after matches.
In the men's bracket, top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are on a collision course and could set up a mouth-watering semifinal contest if they both win Tuesday.
Djokovic, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, plays No. 11 Karen Khachanov on Court Philippe Chatrier. Alcaraz, who won last year’s U.S. Open, takes on No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, a two-time runner-up at major tournaments.
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