{"id":118083,"date":"2025-09-04T11:25:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T11:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/118083\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T11:25:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T11:25:08","slug":"naomi-osaka-defeats-karolina-muchova-to-reach-us-open-semifinal-tennis-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/118083\/","title":{"rendered":"Naomi Osaka defeats Karolina Muchova to reach US Open semifinal | Tennis News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Osaka returns to semis for the first time since 2020, while Amanda Anisimova gets Wimbledon revenge against Iga Swiatek.<\/p>\n

Published On 4 Sep 20254 Sep 2025<\/p>\n

Naomi Osaka returned to the US Open semifinals on Wednesday with a 6-4 7-6(3) win over Karolina Muchova, as the four-time Grand Slam champion delivered a battling display to underline her resurgence on the sport\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n

Four years after winning the last of her four major titles, the Japanese 23rd seed, who returned last season after a lengthy maternity break, stretched her unbeaten streak in major quarterfinals to 5-0 and booked a clash with Amanda Anisimova on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means so much. I\u2019m surprised I\u2019m not crying,\u201d said Osaka, who only two years ago was watching the semifinals from the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was sitting up there watching and hoping I would have an opportunity to play on this court again, so my dreams are coming true \u2026 There\u2019s been so much hard work you guys haven\u2019t seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just grateful to my team. Hopefully, you guys will come and watch my next round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muchova, who had been on court for more than 10 hours over four draining rounds, took treatment in the locker room for an apparent left leg issue after she dropped a tight opening set, but came out firing to break at the start of the next.<\/p>\n

She struggled to move at times with heavy strapping on her thigh, but continued to frustrate her opponent with her inventive brand of tennis to break for a 5-4 lead, only for Osaka to wrest back the initiative and go through after the tiebreak.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an incredibly difficult match,\u201d Osaka added.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is one of the best players in the world. Every time I play against her, it\u2019s so difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, she beat me when I had one of my best outfits. I was really upset. I\u2019m just grateful to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NaomiOsaka, right, embraces Muchova after her quarterfinal victory at the US Open [Sarah Stier\/Getty Images via AFP]Anisimova avenges Wimbledon embarrassment<\/p>\n

Anisimova flipped the script earlier on Wednesday, ousting second seed Iga Swiatek 6-4 6-3 to reach her first US Open semifinal and exact revenge for one of the most brutal defeats in Grand Slam history.<\/p>\n

Less than two months after suffering a devastating 6-0 6-0 loss to Swiatek in the Wimbledon final, the American eighth seed won 67 of 121 points to complete the turnaround in 96 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying here is so freaking special,\u201d Anisimova said in her on-court interview. \u201cI\u2019ve been having the run of my life here \u2026 Today proved everything for me. I can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old\u2019s transformation from July\u2019s tears to Wednesday\u2019s triumph epitomises tennis\u2019s capacity for redemption.<\/p>\n

After watching back the painful Wimbledon footage on Tuesday night, Anisimova admitted she was \u201cslow as hell\u201d in that final but approached this rematch with renewed purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is definitely the most meaningful victory I\u2019ve had in my life,\u201d she told reporters. \u201cI really came out there with, like, not an ounce of fear \u2026 I was constantly moving and trying to get myself going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swiatek acknowledged that her opponent\u2019s aggressive return game proved decisive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t win today\u2019s match playing like that, serving like that, and with Amanda being so aggressive on the returns,\u201d the six-time Grand Slam champion told reporters.<\/p>\n

The American dominated on return, converting four of nine break opportunities while Swiatek managed just two breaks from four chances, ending her bid for a seventh Grand Slam title and second US Open crown in the quarterfinals for the second straight year.<\/p>\n

The American\u2019s journey from Wimbledon devastation to US Open breakthrough serves as a powerful reminder that in tennis, the greatest comebacks often follow the most crushing defeats.<\/p>\n

\"AmandaAmanda Anisimova got her revenge against world number two Iga Swiatek for her 6-0, 6-0 Wimbledon final loss on July 12 with an impressive display against the Polish player in the US Open quarterfinal on Wednesday [Ishika Samant\/Getty Images via AFP]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Osaka returns to semis for the first time since 2020, while Amanda Anisimova gets Wimbledon revenge against Iga…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,44,588,85,747,1055,6075],"class_list":{"0":"post-118083","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-sport","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tennis","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-us-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}