Stat of the Day: Muchova now 5-0 vs. Top 20 this year

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Australian Open semifinalist Karolina Muchova kept her perfect record against Top 20 players this year intact on Tuesday, beating Maria Sakkari in a third-round thriller in Madrid, 6-0, 6-7 (9), 7-5.

There’s very little separating them on the rankings—Sakkari’s No. 19, Muchova No. 20—and there was very little between them on the court, too, with Muchova missing out on two match points in the second set tie-break but eventually closing it out in three sets after two hours and 35 minutes.

“I’m playing here for the first time, and it’s very nice here,” Muchova said afterwards.

“I’ve played some good matches and I’m happy to be in the quarterfinals.”

Muchova went 3-0 against Top 20 players en route to her first Grand Slam semifinal in Melbourne in February, beating No. 6 Karolina Pliskova in the third round, No. 16 Elise Mertens in the fourth round and No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in the quarterfinals. She’s now gone 2-0 against Top 20 players in Madrid this week, beating No. 2 Naomi Osaka in the second round and now No. 19 Sakkari in the third round.

She’s now 11-2 this year, the two losses coming against No. 24 Jennifer Brady (in the semifinals of the Australian Open) and No. 34 Ekaterina Alexandrova (in the first round of Stuttgart).