Karolina Muchova defeats Naomi Osaka at US Open after two sets of plot twists

NEW YORK—The second-round match between Karolina Muchova and Naomi Osaka in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night felt as if it could veer off in a completely direction at any moment.

As former US Open champion Lindsay Davenport said in the commentary booth, every time she thought it was going to go one way, it went the other instead.

The two brought varied skills to the court. Osaka’s forte is power, from serve to forehand to backhand. Muchova countered with a blend of good serving, disruptive slice backhands, stealth net attacks, and well-timed drop shots. Putting those two styles across from each other created a volatile mix, as both women alternated between brave and determined shot-making when they were behind, and anxious mistakes when they were ahead.

Osaka was the stronger of the two early, and she earned the first break point at 1-2. But a netted backhand to end that rally seemed to puncture her initial confidence, and settle Muchova’s nerves. Three games later, it was the Czech who broke in sudden, brilliant fashion. She started by following a backhand return to net and knocking off a volley winner. Next she surprised Osaka with perfectly disguised drop shot. Finally, she hit a good return that Osaka couldn’t handle. From there, Muchova ran out the set.

In the second, though, it was Muchova’s turn to get tight, and Osaka’s turn to take heart from that. With Osaka serving at 0-1, Muchova had three break points, but couldn’t convert. Later, at 4-4, a nervous Muchova rashly rushed herself to net and made two easy volley errors. An emboldened Osaka broke and went up 40-0 on her own serve at 5-4—triple set point. The pro-Osaka crowd roared in anticipation of a deciding set.

Instead, it was Osaka’s turn to get tight, and for the match to swerve again. Osaka made two forehand errors and double faulted her set points away, and made another gasp-inducing mistake on break point. It was 5-5, and soon a tiebreaker was upon us.

The breaker swung as wildly as the first two sets. Osaka built a 4-2 lead, but rather than gaining momentum, she double faulted. Muchova took that gift and ran with it, cracking two service winners to go up 5-4. Then she pulled off the shot of the match, a crosscourt forehand pass that she hit while sprinting in the other direction.

The shot gave her two match points, but there was one twist left. Osaka saved the first with a smash, and then looked as if she had saved the second, when she came in behind a strong forehand and set up for an easy swing volley, right on top of the net. Except that it didn’t prove to be so easy. Rather than pummel it for a winner and even the score at 6-6, she pummeled it two feet wide to lose the match.

It was an abrupt and stunning ending to a contest that had seemed destined to go on much longer. Osaka stood still and stared in shock, and then walked off court with her head down. She had hit the ball well at times, but not at the right times.

Muchova spun around in shocked relief. She had spent much of the 2024 season recovering from surgery, and here she was back on Ashe at night, beating a two-time US Open champion, 6-3, 7-6 (5). She’ll move on to play Anastasia Potapova next.

“Look around,” Muchova said in awe of the scene, “this is unbelievable the atmosphere. It’s crazy energy, and I like it.”

The match was equally crazy, and Muchova certainly liked the result.