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When Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Świątek step onto Court Philippe Chatrier for the 2025 French Open semifinals, the battle between the world’s top two players over the last couple of years will also be the latest chapter in a rivalry that hasn’t played out on a big stage in some time. While Sabalenka enters as the current No. 1 and top seed, Świątek is the undisputed Queen of Clay, having won three straight French Open titles and four of the last five.
This matchup marks their first Grand Slam meeting since 2022 and only their second ever in Paris. While Sabalenka has shined on hard courts with Australian and US Open titles, she’s never made it to the final at Roland Garros. Świątek, on the other hand, has turned Paris into her playground but entered this year with more question marks than usual. Despite their diverging 2025 trajectories, the conditions are now set for what could be their most competitive and dramatic clash yet.
For Sabalenka, the road to the semifinals has been businesslike. She has yet to drop a set and has answered every challenge with poise and power. Her last two matches provided just the kind of preparation she might have wanted: stiff but manageable tests from familiar foes.
In the fourth round, Amanda Anisimova pushed Sabalenka in a tight 7-5 first set. The Belarusian responded with clinical hitting and superior fitness to take the second set more comfortably. Then came Zheng Qinwen in the quarterfinals, an opponent who had beaten Sabalenka in Rome a few weeks ago. Qinwen came out strong and even forced a first-set tiebreak, but once again, Sabalenka found her rhythm, controlled the baseline and imposed her will.
The most encouraging sign for Sabalenka has been her clay-court patience. She’s never been shy with her power, but this year, she’s also shown the ability to construct points more deliberately, especially when returning against bigger hitters. It’s a skill she’ll need in spades against Świątek, whose defensive skills on clay can force extended rallies and force errors.
Świątek’s path to the semifinals has been anything but straightforward. She came into Roland Garros with no titles to her name in 2025 and a recent slump that saw her struggle to find any consistency, particularly on her favored surface. Her loss in Rome was jarring, not because of the opponent, but because of the ease with which she was beaten.
For a moment, it looked like her hold on Paris might slip. And then came her fourth-round match against Elena Rybakina, where she was down 6-1, 2-0 and on the verge of a shocking exit. What followed was a reminder of why Świątek is already considered one of the greatest clay-court players in modern history. One aggressive backhand shifted the energy. One point led to another. Then came the confidence, the topspin, the intensity and the belief.
From that moment forward, Świątek has been dialed in. Her quarterfinal performance was a masterclass in clay-court tennis, with heavy topspin dictating rallies and incredible footwork allowing her to turn defense into offense. When she’s in that zone, especially on Court Philippe Chatrier, there’s no tennis surface where she’s more dominant.
Świątek often speaks about how much her success at Roland Garros feeds into her mental edge, and that’s been clear this week. She believes she will perform and execute in this environment that has become so special.
On paper, this match looks like it could go the distance. Sabalenka has closed the gap on clay, finally beating Świątek in Madrid in 2023 and pushing her to a third-set tiebreak in their 2024 Madrid rematch. But when the two met more recently in Rome, Świątek reasserted her dominance, winning 6-2, 6-3 in what felt like a reset of the rivalry.
Sabalenka has looked stronger through the early rounds, but there’s something about Świątek at Roland Garros. Sabalenka must bring her best serving performance and avoid over-hitting in rallies where Świątek is content to grind.
This one could resemble the 2024 Madrid classic in drama and quality, but in a Slam setting, Świątek’s ability to reset mentally and adapt tactically gives her the edge. Sabalenka might take a set, but it’s hard to imagine Świątek surrendering on the court she owns unless forced off it.
Even with Sabalenka’s improved clay form, Świątek’s return game and her ability to break serve at crucial moments should be the difference.
Zach has been a published sports writer since 2018 specializing in college football & basketball, MLB and NFL content for multiple publications.