US Open: Unseeded Muchova advances to semifinals

Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic has reached the semifinals of the US Open for the second time in a row. The unseeded 28-year-old defeated the Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday and has not lost a set at this Grand Slam tournament in New York.

She will now face the winner of the party between world number one Iga Swiatek from Poland and American Jessica Pegula. After her semi-final exit last year, Muchova had to miss more than nine months with a wrist injury and only returned to the tour at the end of June.

Muchova: “A strange match”

Both players struggled at times in the quarterfinals. Muchova left the court several times. “It was a strange match. I had problems, but I don’t want to talk about it”she said.

When the score was 3:5 in the second set from her perspective, Haddad Maia was in tears and buried her face in a towel. She was treated and listened to with a stethoscope. A little later, Muchova prevailed.

Navarro and Sabalenka

Emma Navarro and Aryna Sabalenka had previously booked their place in the semifinals. Navarro, ranked 12th in the world, defeated Paula Badosa, a Spaniard who was also born in New York, 6-2, 7-5. She will now face two-time Australian Open winner Sabalenka, who won her quarterfinal against Chinese Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 6-1, 6-2.