French Open women's semifinals: Sabalenka and Gauff in the final

Is tennis a quiet sport? Not when Aryna Sabalenka is playing. The world number one from Belarus accompanies rallies with decibels, as if a race car were about to take off. Her serves flew over the net at 177 km/h in Paris on Thursday. She doesn't think she's ever faced an opponent who can accelerate balls more powerfully than she can, she said during the French Open . The three-time Grand Slam winner has now catapulted herself into the final of Roland Garros for the first time – she had to beat the best clay-court player of recent years, Poland's Iga Swiatek.

Swiatek had stepped onto the court in Paris 26 times in a row and left as a winner 26 times. Only Serena Williams has managed to establish a similar dominance in women's tennis at the US Open this century. On Thursday in the semifinals, Swiatek's impressive streak at Roland Garros was broken: The 24-year-old clay-court specialist, who had triumphed at the 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024 French Open, was defeated by Sabalenka 6-7 (1), 6-4, and 0-6. "I like being here and am happy to have played so many wonderful tournaments here," she said afterward. Even this time, after the semifinal loss, she couldn't be dissatisfied: "Because I played better than in the weeks before."

She hasn't won a tournament this year, doubted her form, and suffered several early defeats. Her game stabilized at the French Open. Until the end of the second set, she and Sabalenka were evenly matched, then her opponent's powerful play resulted in a perfect, almost flawless set. "The job isn't done yet. I have to win one more match," said Salabenka, 27, afterward.

In Saturday's final, she will face 21-year-old American Coco Gauff, who was a finalist three years ago (and lost to Swiatek). On Thursday, she ended the astonishing run of unseeded Frenchwoman Lois Boisson 6-1, 6-2 on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Boisson is currently ranked number 361 in the world and was only eligible to play thanks to a wildcard from the French Tennis Federation. She beat two top-ten players and became the first Frenchwoman to reach the semifinals since Marion Bartoli 14 years ago. A crowd of 15,000 cheered her loudly. That didn't bother Coco Gauff—she simply ignored the noise.