PARIS-- Defending champion Iga Swiatek was pushed hard by Beatriz Haddad Maia at the French Open on Thursday, but the top seed soaked up the pressure to overcome the Brazilian 6-2 7-6(7) and reach a third final in four years at Roland Garros. She will play on Saturday the unseeded Karolina Muchova, who saved a match point before overcoming second seed Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 7-5 to end the Belarusian's hopes of becoming world number one.

Swiatek, who lifted the Suzanne Lenglen Cup last year and in 2020, was put through the wringer by Haddad Maia but held her nerve in a tense tiebreak to see off the 14th seed's challenge. "She has a really nice game for clay courts with a lot of top spin," Swiatek said of Haddad Maia, who beat the Pole in their only other meeting in Toronto last year. "She can also play flat and aggressive. She's a fighter. For every match, she played fierce." Sabalenka would have taken over top spot in the rankings by winning the title in Paris, but the Australian Open champion wasted her opportunity at 5-2 in the third set against Muchova and bowed out after losing the last five games in a row. That made Muchova only the third player ranked outside the top 40 to reach the Roland Garros final after Jelena Ostapenko (2017) and Swiatek (2020) - both of whom won the title. Skilful Best The last unseeded player left in the men's and women's draw, Muchova, who fought back from the mid-200s into the top 50 after an injury in 2021, was at her skilful best to subdue the big-hitting Sabalenka.

"I don't really know what happened," Muchova said. "The atmosphere, the people pushing me in all the match. I just keep fighting and it worked. I really don't know what happened. I am so happy." There was light at the end of the tunnel for Japan's Miyu Kato after a difficult few days, as she put her women's doubles disqualification behind her to claim the mixed doubles crown with Germany's Tim Puetz. The pair rallied to beat Canada's Bianca Andreescu and New Zealander Michael Venus 4-6 6-4 (10-6) in the final. Kato and her Indonesian partner Aldila Sutjiadi had been disqualified from the women's doubles in the third round when Kato hit a ball down the court between points, inadvertently striking a ball girl. That led to the Asian pair's disqualification, leaving Kato in tears. "It's been challenging mentally after the disqualification. I want to thank everyone for the heartfelt messages of support," Kato said. "I was able to use all the positive energy so I could be here today.

Thanks to Aldila and all the Indonesian fans. I'm doing my best so we can one day return and claim the women's doubles title." The action resumes on Friday with the men's semi-finals, as world number one Carlos Alcaraz meets 22-times Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and last year's runner-up Casper Ruud faces Alexander Zverev.

Karim Benzema poses holding the jersey of Saudi Arabian soccer team Al Ittihad in this handout photo obtained by Reuters June 6, 2023. (Al Ittihad/Handout)

SAUDI ARABIA - Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema became the latest big-name player to head to Saudi Arabia as he joined Al Ittihad as a free agent, the club said on Tuesday, after the French striker's departure from Real Madrid. Benzema, who ended a trophy-laden 14 years at Real this week, joins the Saudi Arabian champions on a three-year deal and will wear the number nine shirt. "I am excited to experience a new football league in a different country. I have been fortunate to achieve amazing things in my career and achieve everything I can in Spain and Europe," Benzema said. "It now feels the time is right for a new challenge and project ... I am looking forward to joining my new team mates and, together with them, help take this amazing club and the game in Saudi Arabia to new levels."

Benzema follows his former Real team mate Cristiano Ronaldo to the Gulf country after the Portugal forward signed a 2-1/2 year contract estimated by media to be worth more than 200 million euros ($213.78 million) with Al Nassr in December. Having joined Real in 2009 from Olympique Lyonnais, Benzema became the spearhead of the club's attack after Ronaldo left to Juventus in 2018, winning the Champions League five times and the LaLiga title four times. He had his best season with Real in the 2021-22 campaign when he scored 44 goals in all competitions to lead the club to a record-extending 14th European title as well as the LaLiga crown. Early in 2021 he earned a recall from France manager Didier Deschamps to the national team for the first time in six years, after falling out of favour due to his alleged involvement in the Mathieu Valbuena sex tape scandal. The 35-year-old won the Ballon d'Or award for the best men's player in the world last year and he looked set to stay at the Spanish club for one more year, after a 2022-23 season in which he struggled with injuries and missed out on France's World Cup squad in Qatar. However, an offer estimated by media to be worth more than 100 million euros from Saudi Arabia made him rethink his decision to stay in Spain for a final season, with the striker deciding to void the one-year extension clause he had in his contract.

Al-Ittihad last month clinched the Saudi Pro League title for the first time since 2009. Huge Step For Saudi Football Last week, Portuguese forward Ronaldo said he hoped that other big-name players would follow him to the league. "Benzema's arrival is the most impactful transfer in the club's history to date," Al Ittihad said in a statement. "It also marks another huge step in the Saudi Pro League's journey to become one of football's leading destinations for the world's very best after its biggest season to date." Several high-profile players have been linked with moves to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, with a source close to Argentina captain Lionel Messi - Ronaldo's rival for the title of best player of his generation - last month telling Reuters that he had received a formal offer to join Al-Hilal next season. Al Ittihad's club president Anmar Alhailae hailed the signing of Benzema as a major achievement for the club, saying, "Karim is a global football icon, he's box office and very much at the top of his powers. "He joins a club and hugely competitive league – in a country with big ambitions both on and off the pitch."

LOS ANGELES-- Lionel Messi on Wednesday announced that he intends to join Major League Soccer side Inter Miami as a free agent after parting ways with French champions Paris St Germain and snubbing a lucrative contract offer in Saudi Arabia. Messi, who played his final game for PSG over the weekend, was also linked with a return to Barcelona but the Spanish club have had their hands tied due to LaLiga's financial fair play rules. "I made the decision that I'm going to go to Miami," Messi said in an interview with Mundo Deportivo and Sport newspapers. "I still haven't closed it 100%. I'm still missing a few things, but we decided to go ahead. If Barcelona didn't work out, I wanted to leave Europe, get out of the spotlight and think more about my family."

Messi, who led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar in December and has earned a record seven Ballon d'Or awards, won the Ligue 1 title in his two seasons with PSG as well as the French Super Cup in 2022. "After winning the World Cup and not being able to go to Barca, it was time to go to the U.S. league to experience football in a different way and enjoy the day-to-day," Messi said. "Obviously with the same responsibility and desire to want to win and to always do things well. But with more peace of mind." Ownership Stake The MLS said it was pleased that Messi intends to join Inter Miami this summer. "Although work remains to finalize a formal agreement, we look forward to welcoming one of the greatest soccer players of all time to our League," MLS said in a statement. Messi had wanted to go to a club where he could eventually have an ownership stake, a source with knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters this week. He also wanted to maximise his existing deal with Adidas and MLS's relationship with Apple. MLS earns a flat fee of around $250 million per year from Apple until it reaches a certain threshold of subscriptions, after which point it will earn a share of the revenue from those subscriptions.

Messi's move to MLS is expected to drive viewers to the Apple TV streaming platform, as the world's most recognisable soccer player. The forward was also linked with a move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal after he received a formal offer. The Gulf country has been looking to bring the game's biggest players to its league and was successful in convincing Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo to join Al Nassr soon after the World Cup. French striker Karim Benzema joined Al Ittihad this week. Inter Miami are co-owned by former England captain David Beckham, who was one of the first major European stars to move to the United States to play in the MLS, winning the MLS Cup twice with Los Angeles Galaxy. Messi will have his work cut out in Miami, however, with the club rock bottom of the Eastern Conference standings -- six points from ninth place, the final spot which would give them a chance of qualifying for the playoffs. The team sacked coach Phil Neville last week after a dismal run of 10 defeats and five wins this season, a stark contrast to last season when they finished sixth and qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs. PSG Exit Once the crown jewel of European football, Messi has effectively been let go by two super clubs in two years -- for free.

At Barcelona, Messi has several records to his name at the club he did not want to leave, in a city he had called home since he was a teenager. But Messi had no choice in the manner of his exit from Barcelona in 2021 as the club failed to make it financially feasible to retain his services. His move away from PSG, however, is of his own volition as he felt the French club lacked a project for the future while fan unrest only hastened his exit. The highs after winning Argentina's first World Cup in 36 years were quickly offset by the lows he experienced in Paris. Even before he could rest on his World Cup laurels he found himself in the eye of a storm when, for the first time in his illustrious career, his club's fans turned against him amid PSG's troubling form. Supporters of PSG, owned and funded by Qatar Sports Investments, have become accustomed to winning domestic titles in the past decade. They won their ninth title in 11 seasons last month. But the holy grail -- the Champions League -- remains elusive after yet another meek exit in the last 16.

PARIS- - Defending champion Iga Swiatek needed only 31 minutes to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Monday as her Ukrainian opponent Lesia Tsurenko retired after feeling unwell. World number one Swiatek was 4-1 up in the opening set when Tsurenko called on the trainer and had her blood pressure and pulse checked. Following a five-minute medical timeout, the match resumed but Tsurenko threw in the towel after losing the following game to love. "I'm sorry, playing Iga was my priority, I'm very sorry," Tsurenko told a press conference.

"I've had this virus for a couple of days and today it was tough for me to warm up and I hoped I would feel better during the match but unfortunately it got worse. My body could not take it. "I was fine at my last match although I started to have a sore throat and then yesterday I could practice for only 10 minutes. I had litres of water and healthy things, vitamins, a lot of fruits. I need another two, three days to recover." Swiatek next faces American sixth seed Coco Gauff in a repeat of last year's final, which the Pole won6-1 6-3and she will enter the contest having spent just over four hours on court.

Wearing a ribbon in the Ukrainian colours pinned to her cap while Tsurenko had one on her top, Swiatek raced to a 4-0 lead as the world number 66 started to show signs of weakness. She still managed to pull a break back but requested the trainer to come on court as she sat down on her bench at the change of ends. She was seen explaining her problems to the medical staff and after being given the green light to continue, it soon became evident that she was struggling to play her shots and ended the match prematurely. Swiatek has dropped only nine games en route to the quarter-finals as she chases a third Roland Garros title in four years. "Obviously it's not the way you want to win a match," Swiatek told a press conference. The 22-year-old, however, was satisfied with her campaign so far as she can now rely on experience to deal with the demands of a Grand Slam. "Before I was exhausted mentally and physically, every match cost me a lot but now I'm able to do better," she explained.

"In the first part of the tournament it's important to keep something for the next round." Swiatek is now well established as a top player and reaching the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam gives her little to celebrate, although that does also depend on the major. "If I could be in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon I would be over the moon," she said with a laugh.