Karolina Muchova, the No. 7 seed, triumphed over No. 12 seed Naomi Osaka in a closely contested fourth-round match at the China Open on Tuesday. Muchova sealed her victory with a score of 7-5, 1-6, 7-6(7) after nearly three hours of play, marking her advancement to the quarterfinals.
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Muchova faced adversity in the match, trailing 4-1 in the opening set and 3-1 in the final set. She held triple match points at 5-4 in the third set while serving against Osaka but could not capitalize on her five opportunities to secure the win. In the tiebreak, Muchova missed another three match points before finally converting her ninth with a delicate backhand volley.
In her on-court interview, Muchova reflected on the tense moments during the match, saying, "I honestly didn't even believe I will finish the match. After a match point I was like, 'OK, I'm going for it,' but then I think she always played great and steady. I was shaking. I'm happy that I made the last volley."
With this win, Muchova improved her overall record against Osaka to 5-3, having previously defeated her twice on grass earlier this year. This victory also marked Muchova's fourth quarterfinal appearance at the WTA 1000 level or above this season, following her title at Doha and runs to the finals at Wimbledon and semifinals in Miami.
Highlights from the match showed Muchova's backhand playing a crucial role. Despite struggling to close out the match due to unforced errors, she ultimately used her backhand effectively to secure the final point. "I feel like all the players are hitting to my backhand side. But I'd say it was a shot that won the match for me today," Muchova stated.
This win further extended Muchova's perfect record in third-set tiebreaks this year to 3-0, putting her alongside Petra Marcinko as the only players undefeated in deciding tiebreaks. Muchova holds an overall career record of 8-3 in such tiebreaks at the tour level.
In the next round, Muchova will face fellow Czech player Nikola Bartunkova, the No. 26 seed, who advanced by defeating Sinja Kraus 6-0, 4-6, 6-3. Muchova noted her familiarity with Bartunkova, as they train together in Prague. "I'm not surprised it could be a Czech match. I never played Niki. She is a crafty player," Muchova commented.