Muchová Outlasts Osaka on Ninth Match Point as Beijing Quarterfinals Take Shape

Karolína Muchová needed nine match points and two hours, 52 minutes to get past Naomi Osaka in the China Open round of 16 on Tuesday, winning 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (9-7) in Beijing to reach the quarterfinals.

It was rarely clean. Muchová, the #7 seed, finished with 50 unforced errors, and Osaka had the early edge, building a three-game lead in the first set before a run of missed shots in the seventh game let Muchová back in. The Czech took the set 7-5, then lost her footing in the second as Osaka, the #12 seed and a former world #1, ran away with it 6-1. The third went the distance. Muchová kept creating match points and Osaka kept saving them until the deciding tiebreak, which Muchová closed 9-7. It was her second straight three-set win in Beijing after coming from a set down against Liudmila Samsonova.