Naomi Osaka, two times winner of the US Open, was knocked out in the second round by Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic who was simply exceptional as she won the game 6-3, 7-6(5). Muchova, who had been off the tour for 10 months in 2020 when she had wrist surgery, was impressive at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The next match she shall be playing is against Anastasia Potapova of Russia who has been unseeded and ranked at the third round.
This tournament was showing a good beginning from Japan’s Naomi Osaka, a four-time winner of the Grand Slam when she knocked out the 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko in the first round. During the match against Muchova, she made several mistakes that she rarely made.
The stage was set for a fight to the finish and after the match, Muchova spoke about the feeling of being back on the court “Honestly, this year the biggest win for me is that I could play again. I’m really grateful that I’m able to play tennis. ”
Right from the onset Muchova was able to put pressure on Osaka taking two set points to take the first set with 6-3.
In the second set,, Osaka was putting even a great effort to try and level up the match and at least get a break of Muchova’s serve after saving three break points. However, when it came to the crunch, Osaka stumbled a little and Muchova benefited, winning the set, the match, in the tiebreak.
Muchova who returned to action only this year after undergoing wrist surgery in February responded well by strong serving and intelligent court play to clinch the match.