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In the last four, Czech Republic's Muchova will
play second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus or Ukrainian former
world number three Elina Svitolina who will meet in a
politically-charged quarter-final later in the day.
"I don't know what to say, it's been an incredible two weeks and
I'm glad I'm still in the competition," Muchova said.
"I will for sure watch the match (between Sabalenka and
Svitolina), I'm not sure if I will watch it live but I'm sure it
will be another great match in two days."
Muchova has largely flown under the radar in Paris this year
after she stunned eighth seed Maria Sakkari in the opening round
and the unseeded 26-year-old began brightly in front of a sparse
Court Philippe Chatrier crowd with an early break.
But Pavlyuchenkova, who has fallen to 333 in the world after a
knee injury kept her out of action for seven months last year,
stayed within touching distance with a tight hold and sprung to
life in the next game to draw level at 3-3.
After the pair exchanged breaks again, Muchova pinned her
31-year-old Russian opponent back with some deep groundstrokes
to bag the opening set without fuss and made early inroads in
the next as Pavlyuchenkova faded under the midday sun.
Muchova appeared more comfortable in the second set and built a
commanding 5-1 lead before Pavlyuchenkova showed some signs of
resistance.
But there was no comeback on the cards as Muchova closed out the
match on serve, celebrating the victory when Pavlyuchenkova
fired a shot wide.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; Editing by Christian
Radnedge)
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