Live Aryna Sabalenka vs Iga Swiatek: Score and updates from French Open semi-final
Latest updates
Simon Briggs Tennis Correspondent, at Roland Garros. Live updates. Rob Bagchi
05 June 2025 4:12pm
4:12PM
Sabalenka* 7-6(1), 4-6, 1-0 Swiatek (denotes server)
A good return from Swiatek has Sabalenka on her heels and she nets for 15-all.
Swiatek again returns well but changes her mind at the last second with the open court at her mercy to net. 30-15.
A long rally ensues and as Sabalenka comes to the net Swiatek creams a passing shot for 30-all.
A glorious forehand pass down the line from Sabalenka brings up 40-30, and she blasts an unreturnable serve down the middle to win the game.
4:08PM
Sabalenka 7-6(1), 4-6 Swiatek* (denotes server)
Sabalenka gets the first serve back but nets a regulation forehand and swears at herself for such carelessness.
Sabalenka hastens to the net after playing a drop shot but you have to execute better against the fastest player in the womens' game. A short exchange at the net follows which Swiatek wins.
A lovely pass brings up three set points for Swiatek, the first of which she converts after sending Sabalenka scampering every which way, with a selection of perfectly places groundstrokes. It's one set all.
4:03PM
Sabalenka 7-6(1), 4-5 Swiatek* (denotes server)
Sabalenka moves 15-0 up but fails to do with a moonball from Swiatek, driving a volley a mile out of court.
A very late out call on a searching long groundstroke from, Swiatek puts Sabalenka 30-15 up and then a lovely drop shot gives her 40-15.
She takes the game by melting another serve down the T.
It'll be Swiatek to serve to level the match.
4:00PM
Sabalenka 7-6(1), 3-5 Swiatek* (denotes server)
At 15-0 Sabalenka hangs in the point and forces Swiatek to the net with a brutal drop shot the Pole can't reach.
That was a refreshingly long rally.
Swiatek sends a winner perilously close to the baseline toi move 30-15 up and then, after a superbly placed serve, approaches the net to smash home another winner.
If she keeps serving this well she will win the set. She takes the game thanks to another thunderous serve.
That's three holds in a row to 15 from the four-time champion.
3:56PM
Sabalenka* 7-6(1), 3-4 Swiatek (denotes server)
At 0-30 Swiatek throws her racquet at a thunderous Sabalanka crosscourt backhand reminiscent of Carlo Alcaraz.
Swiatek is then given a talking to by the referee for requesting he come down to check the mark of Sabalenka's winner.
A heated exchange follows with Swiatex claiming 'it's not fair' but the referee holds his ground, refuses to come down, as Swiatek had taken too long to make the appeal. It turns out she was right and Sabalnka;s shot was out, but after much ado about nothing Sabalenka serves out the game.
3:52PM
Sabalenka 7-6(1), 2-4 Swiatek* (denotes server)
Swiatek is looking to preserve her two game lead and is serving well enough to do so.
She pulls out a delightful passing backhand down the line too to move 40-15 up.
And she then puts away a smash to take the game.
3:48PM
Sabalenka* 7-6(1), 2-3 Swiatek (denotes server)
Sabalenka gets back in her serving groove and takes the game with ease.
That must have been the shortest game of the match so far.
3:42PM
Sabalenka 7-6(1), 1-3 Swiatek* (denotes server)
It's not easy for anyone to buy a hold of serve in this match. Infosys do a stat where they rate particular shots out of ten and they gave Sabalenka a 9.8 for her returning across the whole of the first set. Swiatek got 9.4.
Sabalenka pulverises a return but Swiatek responds with an ace to level at 15-all.
Sabalenka sends a crosscourt forehand wide and in the next rally Swiatek elects to comes to the net where she executes a delightful drop shot for 40-15.
She then repeats the feat – another drop shot – this time from the baseline and that's game. Wonderful tennis from the reigning champion at last.
3:41PM
Sabalenka* 7-6(1), 1-2 Swiatek (denotes server)
Sabalenka is struggling with her serve and throws in two unforced errors to fall 0-40 behind.
All of a sudden it's amateur hour and after forcing Swiatek behind the baseline again she inexplicably sends a backhand into the tramlines. It's another break of serve!
3:38PM
Sabalenka 7-6(1), 1-1 Swiatek* (denotes server)
After an exchange of points Swiatek crashes down a serve that Sabalenka can only just get a racquet head to, but Sabalenka hits some brutal long groundstrokes that keep Swatek pegged back, forcing the Pole to net twice and bring up break point.
Sabalenka drills another ferocious forehand and Swiatek has no answer,an db breaks back.
That's two breaks of serve in the first two games.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
26 minutes ago
- Reuters
Oviedo back in LaLiga after 24 years
June 21 (Reuters) - Real Oviedo sealed their return to LaLiga after 24 years with a 3–2 aggregate victory over Mirandes in Saturday's promotion play-off. Oviedo triumphed 3-1 at home, overturning a first-leg deficit with goals from Santi Cazorla, Ilyas Chaira and Francisco Portillo. A packed Estadio Carlos Tartiere erupted as fans stormed the pitch at the final whistle. The club from the Principality of Asturias, in the northwest of Spain, will now join Levante and Elche in next season's top tier, replacing relegated Leganes, Las Palmas and Valladolid. "There's no way to describe what this means to us. These players are heroes, every single one of them. They deserve great recognition," Oviedo coach Veljko Paunovic told LaLiga TV.
The Sun
29 minutes ago
- The Sun
Santi Cazorla completes fairytale swansong with Oviedo as Arsenal legend scores to get boyhood club promoted to LaLiga
SANTI CAZORLA completed his fairytale swansong with Oviedo after netting to get them promoted back to LaLiga. The ace helped inspire a stunning comeback against Mirandes to seal a return to the top flight after a 24-year absence, prompting an incredible pitch invasion from fans. 7 7 7 7 7 7 The former Spain ace started his career with Oviedo's academy in 1996 before going on to star for Villarreal, Malaga and Arsenal. Cazorla, who almost lost his leg due to an infection after numerous Achilles injuries, rejoined them in 2023 after a spell in Qatar. Oviedo were in the second tier of Spain at the time, having last played in LaLiga in 2001 while even suffering relegation to the fourth division. Cazorla's first campaign back saw his side suffer heartbreak in the playoff final. But the minnows are now back in the big time after Cazorla inspired a stunning win against rivals Mirandes, who won the first leg 1-0. They doubled their advantage after just 16 minutes to leave Oviedo's hopes of promotion hanging by a thread. But Cazorla stepped up to score a penalty just before half-time, pulling his side back into the game. Oviedo then levelled the tie on the hour mark before Mirandes had a men sent off. And the hosts completed their stunning comeback in extra time as Oviedo fans flooded the pitch in tears of joy. Cazorla was all smiles at full time as he kissed wife Ursula, having returned to Oviedo out of pure love for the club. Gabriel urges Arsenal to complete £67m transfer for 'phenomenal' Brazil team-mate Rodrygo amid Real Madrid frustration 7 The playmaker even wanted to go unpaid, but league rules dictated he had to accept a minimum wage of £80,000 per year. It now remains to be seen if Cazorla stays for one more season in LaLiga, having undergone a total of 10 operations to leave him in daily discomfort. Two years of injury hell starting in 2016 saw a bacterial infection eat a 10cm chunk out of his right Achilles and ankle bone. A bit of Cazorla's hamstring and arm muscle was used to rebuild the tendon. And he previously declared a return to Arsenal as a coach could be on the cards, saying: 'Arsenal have never closed the door to me.' Cazorla scored 29 goals in 180 games during his six years at the Emirates while winning two FA Cups. He also played 81 times for Spain while winning successive Euros, but missed the World Cup victory in 2010 due to a hernia.
The Guardian
39 minutes ago
- The Guardian
In the Arena: Serena Williams review – there is just no one in the world that matches up to her (and her sister)
Serena Williams, holder of 39 grand slam titles and four Olympic gold medals, who spent 319 weeks as tennis's world No 1 and became the highest-earning female athlete in history, never thought she was that good when she was a young player. That was because she was always training against her older sister, Venus ('she was the prodigy of prodigies'), the only person in the world who could really challenge her. A year younger, Serena remembers being shorter and weaker and resorting to cheating on line calls at practice so she could occasionally beat her. In the Arena: Serena Williams (the title comes from President Roosevelt's 1910 speech to the Sorbonne – 'It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena' so, yes, consider me told) is an eight-part docuseries that covers Serena's rise and rise over her 27-year tennis career before she retired three years ago. Since then, incidentally, she has been busy with her venture capital firm, production company, body care and pain relief startup, beauty line and raising two children. Honestly, it's like looking in a mirror, is it not? In the Arena was executive produced by Serena and is clearly meant to be the definitive version of events. It would be too strong to call it hagiographic, but it is a full-blooded celebration of her achievements. It is not the place to come if you want, for example, an interrogation of the techniques used by the sisters' astonishing father and coach, Richard Williams, to mould two champions. 'My dad was a marketing genius,' says Serena of his marshalling of press attention round his children in the early years, regardless, some might say and have said, of the psychological impact. 'There's a very thin line between parent and coach … But I would say at the end it was all worth it,' is as far as Serena goes here in acknowledging the criticism Richard has faced for his intense focus on their professional success. Then it's on to the good stuff. The sisters turning pro – Venus flying from the start, Serena stumbling slightly before she too took off. The beating of rivals and established stars ('I was determined, determined to take her down … I'm coming for you. I'm coming for everyone') and their swift domination of a game that had hitherto been almost solely the preserve of a white, moneyed elite. 'Little sisters from Compton. Can't really take that too seriously, right?' Inevitably, of course, they begin to meet in grand slam finals. The footage – the grace, the power of them – is astonishing. Almost as astonishing, if in a gradually emerging way, is the grace with which they handle the competition between them, the wins and the losses. Serena talks about benefiting from Venus going first in everything, from turning pro, to handling good and bad press, to playing individuals Serena will later face in tournaments. They talk with sincerity about being pleased for each other's wins even as they mourn and analyse their own losses. And they talk about the bifurcation between life as sisters and life as absolutely dedicated competitors and not letting either one infect the other. They warmed up together before their first joint grand slam final, the 2001 US Open. Venus won. 'I can't say I enjoyed it. I did what I had to do.' 'I wasn't happy,' adds Serena. 'But I was OK. She was the phenom. It was never me.' Her turn would come. She learned to pretend she was playing someone else when it was Venus on the other side of the net. By the time Wimbledon rolled round a year later, she was ready to be No 1. 'I gotta have it,' Serena grins, remembering. 'That's what I need in my life. Because it's just an extension of who I was. As Thanos says: I was inevitable. I couldn't stop the roll.' Nor could anyone – including the haters behind the racial and misogynist abuse she dealt with – or anything, including the difficult birth of her first child, in 2017, which nearly killed her. She retired in 2022, and plunged straight into what is already a highly successful and lucrative second act. It would be fascinating to compare and contrast another pair of sisters or – perhaps even more fascinatingly – a pair of brothers who followed the same trajectory. Would they have stayed so close, maintained the same boundaries between love and work, or would they have disappeared under the pressure of competition? Would they have spurred each other on to greater heights in the same way, or destroyed each other? Would they remain such generous supporters of each other, or have combusted by now? What makes the mind not just of a champion – but of a champion who survives the ride intact? Maybe one day we'll find out. But there is as yet nothing to compare to Serena or to Venus separately, let alone together. In the Arena: Serena Williams airs on BBC One and is on iPlayer now
