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Sabalenka breaks new ground before Gauff ends Boisson's journey
The Guardian
|June 06, 2025
After successfully devoting the past few years of her life to becoming a more well-rounded player and mentally durable individual, Aryna Sabalenka arrived on court for her second French Open semi-final certain that she was finally ready for more.
 
 No challenge, not even the task of ending an era of total dominance at Roland Garros, felt beyond her.
In the face of her greatest rival on the court, Iga Swiatek, Sabalenka converted her phenomenal form and fortitude into one of the most significant victories of her career as she held her nerve in three delicious, tension-filled sets to topple the four-time French Open champion 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 and reach the final at Roland Garros for the first time in her career.
Tomorrow's final will be a tussle between the top two players after Coco Gauff, the No 2 seed, put an end to Loïs Boisson's fairytale run to the semi-finals by ruthlessly dismantling the local wildcard 6-1, 6-2 to reach her second French Open final and third major final overall.
Having entered her first grand slam tournament with a wildcard and a modest ranking of No 361, Boisson has produced one of the surprising grand slam runs in history, defeating the world No 3, Jessica Pegula, and the world No 6, Mirra Andreeva, en-route to the last four. Gauff, who has been the most consistent player during the clay court season with finals in Madrid, Rome and now Roland Garros, proved a step too far.
This story is from the June 06, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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