Unheralded Czech player Muchova, a former top 20 player, has been plagued by a succession of injuries in her career. Her indomitable spirit finally paid off at Roland Garros on Friday. She saved a match point and battled back from 2-5 down in the final set to shock world number two Aryna Sabalenka and reach her maiden Grand Slam final at the French Open on Thursday.

An abdominal problem sidelined her for seven months in 2021 while she ended last year's French Open in a wheelchair after suffering an ankle injury.

Only last September, her ranking was outside the top 200.

"I missed the Australian Open last year, and I was in a pretty bad state health-wise, I was working out a lot to try to get back," said Muchova who had been a semi-finalist in Melbourne in 2021.

"Some doctors told me, maybe you'll not do sport anymore. But I always kept it kind of positive in my mind and tried to work and do all the exercises to be able to come back. Last year, when my ranking dropped, I wanted to feel motivated to play to get back, but I could not somehow."

However, her confidence was restored by quarter-final runs in Auckland, Dubai and Indian Wells. She added, "I was feeling pretty fine health-wise. It is up-and-downs in life all the time. Now I am enjoying that I am on the upper part now."

The 26-year-old Muchova added Sabalenka to an impressive list of victims in Paris which included eighth seed Maria Sakkari in the first round and 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarter-final.

For Sabalenka, defeat ended her run of 12 successive match wins at the Slams as she paid a heavy price for 53 unforced errors while the versatile Muchova saved nine of 13 break points.

Muchova dug deep to save two break points in the fourth game of the opening set.

Her clever angles countered the raw power of Sabalenka, taking her to set point in the 10th game.