China Open: Muchova superbly beats Sabalenka to reach Beijing semi-finals

Karolina Muchova produced an outstanding performance against top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter finals of the china Open on Friday to book her spot in the last four.

The 28-year-old player from Czechia Karolina Muchova ended Aryna Sabalenka’s 15-match winning streak in Beijing, saving two set points in the first set and coming from 4-2 down in the third to advance 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 46 minutes.

“Tennis is really a roller coaster… You never know. I tried to fight for every ball. In the end it was worth it. I’m here standing now, winning. It’s fun, it’s crazy. I’m really glad,” Karolina Muchova said after beating Aryna Sabalenka.

Muchova is playing just the seventh tournament of her comeback from wrist surgery. She has now reached at least the semifinals in three of those, having also been runner-up in Palermo in July before making the fourth Grand Slam semifinal of her career at the US Open.

With the victory, Muchova has now made it to her first semi-finals in Beijing, where she will meet the winner of the game later in the day between Mirra Andreeva and Qinwen Zheng for a place in the championship match on Sunday.

Reigning Australian Open and US Open champion Sabalenka had not lost a match since the Toronto quarterfinals at the start of August, where she fell to eventual runner-up Amanda Anisimova. However, Muchova has now defeated the World No.2 three times in a row following her victories in the semifinals of Roland Garros and Cincinnati last year. Sabalenka’s sole win in the series came in the 2019 Zhuhai semifinals.