WTA Roland Garros Final Preview: Swiatek vs Muchova for The Title

Surprising Muchova Looks to Dethrone No. 1 Swiatek in French Open Final

Just when it looked like the top two seeds would advance to the French Open women’s final for the first time since a 2013 showdown between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, unheralded Karolina Muchova had other plans. Now the No. 43 ranked player is a heavy underdog against top-seeded and defending champion Iga Swiatek in the French Open Finals. The WTA Roland Garros Finals Preview shows Swiatek as the overwhelming favorite.

Before the tournament started, Swiatek was listed at -140 to win her third French Open title in the last four years and she reached her fourth Grand Slam final without dropping a set.

Muchova outlasted No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka to punch a ticket to her first Grand Slam final to set up an unlikely title matchup. It was not the first time in the tournament that Muchova pulled off an upset with some French Open scores that opened a few eyes.

This will be the first time in three French Open finals that Swiatek won’t be facing an American as she defeated Sofia Kenin to win the title in 2020 and took out Coco Gauff in last year’s final. She lost a total of nine games in those two championship showdowns.

Will Clock Strike Midnight for Cinderella?

Muchova had never advanced past the third round at the French Open and when she drew No. 8 seed Maria Sakkari in the first round, she was expected to have a short stay in Roland Garros.

That changed with a 7-6, 7-5 upset and in the third round she dispatched of No. 27 seed Irina-Camelia Begu is surprisingly routine fashion.

While she eliminated two seeded players, No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula, No. 15 Liudmila Samsonova, 24th-seeded Anastasia Potapova and No. 28 Elise Mertens all stumbled. That resulted with Muchova posting another straight-set win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to set up a meeting with Sabalenka.

The No. 2 seed had six double faults and Muchova won 65% of her points on her second serve to advance with the 7-6, 6-7, 7-5 win. Sabalenka led 40-15 before dropping the net four points to give Muchova the break and allow her to serve for the match.

Looking Pretty Healthy

There were obvious concerns when Swiatek had to retire in the third set of the quarterfinals at the Italian Open. Now she is looking like an unstoppable force and the favorite according to the WTA Roland Garros Finals Preview.

She has looked good to go once she arrived at Roland Garros as Swiatek has yet to drop a set.

That almost changed against Beatriz Haddad Maia as she held a set point in the tiebreaker in the semifinals on Thursday.

Haddad Maia had chances to break Swiatek at 4-4 in the second set and send the match to the third set.

With Elena Rybakina pulling out during the tournament and Sabalenka falling in the semifinals, Swiatek won’t be facing two of the players who have given her the most trouble.

Muchova vs Swiatek Betting Preview

Muchova went into the Australian Open ranked 133rd, according to the WTA rankings, so obviously she is trending in the right direction. This will be the toughest challenge to date as Swiatek is looking to become the first player to win the French Open women’s singles title three times in a four-year span since Justine Henin won three times in a row from 2005-07.

Swiatek is priced at -900 to win the match with the total of games played currently at 19.5.

Muchova and Swiatek haven’t played since the first round at the Prague Open in 2019 when Muchova won 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Barbora Krejcikova won the 2021 French Open title as an unseeded player. However, she needed to outlast the No. 31 seed in the final and not the unquestioned best player in the game.

Muchova has more than twice as many service aces as Swiatek and she will need to rely on her first serve to keep the world’s top-ranked player from taking control early on.

Both players have just two losses this year on clay. One major difference between the two players this season is that Swiatek has been on the court for an average of 73 minutes per match and that is nearly 35 minutes less than Muchova.

Can’t get enough? Here’s more!

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