Aryna Sabalenka said winning a first French Open title would "mean everything" after she knocked out three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals on Thursday.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka battled past four-times champion Iga Swiatek to reach her first French Open final on Thursday with a 7-6(1) 4-6 6-0 victory that ended the Pole's reign in Paris and snapped her 26-game winning streak in the tournament.
Swiatek bested the former world number three 6-1, 7-5 in just over 90 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier to continue her bid to equal a 102-year record by winning four successive French Open titles.
Reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz won a war of attrition with American 13th seed Ben Shelton to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Sunday.
Swiatek extended her winning run at Roland Garros to 22 matches but has dropped to fifth in the world after a year-long trophy drought.
World number two Swiatek was hunting a fourth title at the Foro Italico but failed to get past the third round of the last major tournament before the French Open.
Reigning Madrid Open champion Iga Swiatek suffered a crushing semi-final defeat by Coco Gauff on Thursday, with the American triumphing 6-1, 6-1.
Iga Swiatek admits the strict doping protocols can be stressful for players but feels like she has "been through the worst" after surviving her positive test over contaminated melatonin.
Swiatek said she made far too many mistakes against Keys on Rod Laver Arena and hoped to draw lessons from it.
Iga Swiatek goes into Saturday's French Open final as the overwhelming favourite in her quest for a third successive Roland Garros title against surprise challenger Jasmine Paolini of Italy.
Iga Swiatek swept past Coco Gauff to reach the Rome Open final on Thursday where Aryna Sabalenka will stand in her way of a third title and her bid to match a Serena Williams record.
Top seed Swiatek, the 2022 and 2023 champion at the German clay-court tournament, saw off former US Open champion Raducanu 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.
Swiatek is the first player to win three straight titles at the same WTA event since Serena Williams completed a Miami Open hat-trick from 2013-15.
Top seed Iga Swiatek crashed out of the Australian Open on Saturday, losing 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Czech teenager Linda Noskova in the third round as her bid for a maiden Melbourne Park title and fifth Grand Slam trophy fell apart.
Iga Swiatek came back from the brink to beat unseeded American Danielle Collins in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday, extending her winning run to 18 matches.
She enters the opening Grand Slam of the year as favourite.
Defending champion Iga Swiatek was sent crashing out of the US Open on Sunday, losing in three sets to Latvia's 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko.
The world number 76 came through 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 despite being a break down in both of the first two sets against the reigning US Open and French Open champion
Djokovic took a two sets lead over Hubert Hurkacz in their last 16 clash when play was halted ahead of a locally agreed 11pm night-time curfew
