A bit greater than 4 years in the past, within the first spherical of a tiny clay-court match within the Czech Republic, Ninety fifth-ranked Iga Swiatek misplaced in three units to 106th-ranked Karolina Muchova.

That was the one time they’ve ever performed one another, though they're frequent observe companions.

On Saturday, the identical two gamers will step into Court Philippe Chatrier for a second matchup - on a far grander stage and with far bigger stakes: the French Open championship. Swiatek is now ranked No. 1, the place she’s been for greater than a yr, and is bidding for her third title at Roland Garros and fourth at a serious match.

Muchova’s profession has been sidetracked by varied accidents, so she is ranked simply forty third and is unseeded, however she has been at her finest over the previous two weeks, notably when coming again after going through a match level to remove No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka within the semifinals on Thursday.

And Muchova did it with the identical mixture of old-school and new-school tennis that Swiatek remembers seeing up shut throughout that preliminary encounter in Prague in April 2019.

“I really like her game, honestly. I really respect her, and she’s, I feel like, a player who can do anything. She has great touch. She can also speed up the game,” Swiatek stated. “She plays with that kind of, I don’t know, freedom in her movements. And she has a great technique. So I watched her matches and I feel like I know her game pretty well.”

PHOTOS: No. 1 Iga Swiatek seeks a third French Open title in ladies's last towards Karolina Muchova

Muchova does a little bit of all the things.

She’s snug on the web. She’ll range her speeds and angles from the baseline. She is aware of when to hold again and when to assault. She even hit extra aces within the semifinals than her big-hitting foe, Sabalenka.

Muchova was requested whether or not she ever thought of altering her strategy, taking part in extra like different gamers.

“No, I never had that moment. I think I have it like that in everything in life: I don’t really want to be like anyone else,” the 26-year-old from the Czech Republic stated. “It’s the type of game I enjoy, and I believe in.”

It’s labored properly sufficient to hold her to a 5-0 document towards ladies ranked within the Top 3.

She was unaware of that statistic till a reporter talked about it and requested whether or not which may make her the favourite towards Swiatek, a notion Muchova brushed apart.

“It just shows me that I can play against them,” she stated. “I can compete.”

There’s little question about that.

Swiatek, although, presents her personal challenges.

She, like Muchova, can play with nuance. She, like Muchova, is aware of find out how to assemble some extent, find out how to play protection when obligatory, find out how to assault when obligatory. Her heavy-topspin forehand is as harmful on clay as any shot from anybody else in ladies’s tennis in the mean time.

That is why Swiatek hasn’t misplaced a set to this point within the match. And why she is eyeing a second consecutive title and third in 4 years in Paris.

Muchova solely has received one WTA trophy. Swiatek had zero from any tournaments when she went into her first main last on the 2020 French Open at age 19.

So how has Swiatek, nonetheless just a bit greater than per week faraway from her twenty second birthday, modified since then?

“For sure, I feel like I’m a better player. Improvement, I feel like, is everywhere, so I can’t really say (one area). Everywhere - like, tennis-wise, mentally, tactically, physically, just having the experience, everything,” she stated. “So, yeah, my whole life, basically.”

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