Muchova Edges Osaka in a Thriller in Beijing

Karolina Muchova needed nine match points to finally finish off Naomi Osaka on Tuesday in Beijing.

In a gripping fourth-round battle that lasted two hours and 52 minutes, Muchova rallied from a break down in the first and third sets to defeat Osaka 7-5, 1-6, 7-6(7) and reach the China Open quarterfinals.

Muchova held five match points with Osaka serving at 4-5 in the third set, then saw three more come and go in the deciding tiebreak, at 6-4, 6-5 and 7-6.

By then, Muchova had lost count.

“I didn’t know it was my eight match points,” she said. “I knew I had few. I was like, ‘C’mon, this one.’”

Muchova said each opportunity felt equally difficult, particularly with Osaka producing some of her best tennis with her back against the wall.

“Every match point was difficult,” she said. “I was just trying to play it out.”

Eventually, match point No. 9 was the trick for the crafty Czech, who improved to 3-0 in third-set tiebreaks this year, and 8-3 overall in her career in such matches. 

“I’d say I got a bit lucky today,” she admitted. “Could really go either way. In the tiebreaker in the third set, one point, two points difference at the end. 

“Yeah, I was the luckier one today.”

Muchova improved to 5-3 against Osaka overall and 3-0 against her in 2026. Osaka, per the WTA, drops to 2-6 in third-set tiebreaks. The 28-year-old drops to 1-8 against the top 10 in 2026.

Next for Muchova comes an all-Czech quarterfinal against Nikola Bartunkova, who followed up her third-round upset of Aryna Sabalenka with a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Sinja Kraus. 

Mirra Andreeva and Ekaterina Alexandrova also advanced Tuesday and will meet in another quarterfinal, with the full last-eight lineup now set in Beijing.