Karolina Muchova secured an upset at the China Open, snapping Aryna Sabalenka's 15-match winning streak to reach the semi-finals. (More Tennis News)
The Czech prevailed in two hours and 48 minutes with a 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-4 win over the number one seed on🍰 Friday.
Muchova start🎶ed strong, forcing Sabalenka to defend three break points in the opening game, but they wer🐠e evenly matched throughout.
Sabalenka almost took the first set, but Muchova held her nerve, successfully fighting back againsℱt two set points before taking the tie-break.
The Belarusian looked back to her free-flowing best in the second though, earning two breaks as she forced the decider in 🍌comfortable fashion.
Sabalenka took an early lead in the final set, but from 4-2 down, Muchova clawed her way back, going on a four-game winning streak at the end to book a meeting with Qinwen Zheng or Mirra Andreeva in the final four.
Data Debrief: Czech mate
Given Sabalenka'sꦑ recent hot streak, this does look like an upset, but it is act𓂃ually pretty run-of-the-mill for Muchova.
She has now won her last three matches✃ against Sabalenka in WTA events, defeating her at Cincinnati, Roland Garros 👍2023 and China Open 2024.
Excluding the BJK Cup, only Iga Swiatek (85.3%) has a higher winning 🍷percentage than Muchova on hard-court in WT𒉰A events during 2024 (84.6%, 11-2), surpassing Sabalenka (82.5%, 33-7).
The 28-year-old has reached just her second career semi-final and is the play🥃er with t🌃he fewest WTA-1000 wins during the season before the start of the China Open (one) to reach this stage of the tournament.
