Naomi Osaka knocked out of Wimbledon by Karolina Muchova

After defeating World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, Naomi Osaka, seeded 14 at this year’s Wimbledon, faced No. 10 seed the dangerous Karolina Muchova.

This quarter-final was a slugfest with Osaka making too many unforced errors. Her shots lacked the pop she displayed when she took down Sabalenka.

Karolina Muchova, who comes from the Czech Republic, is a gifted athlete, strong on both the forehand and backhand. Osaka’s ground shots didn’t seem to worry her at all.

The first set went to a tie break with Muchova coming out on top, 7-4.

 She served brilliantly today, and Osaka didn’t come close to breaking her

The second set saw Osaka making too many unforced errors, which may be due to fatigue. Muchova did not let up; she didn’t give Osaka any opportunity to reset.

The second set was somewhat easier than the first for Muchova. At 4-4, Osaka couldn’t remain composed and made a slew of errors. The Czech ran out the set 6-4 to take the match.

At 29, Muchova is showing she can take on the very best. It is a shame that she has been plagued by so many injuries, which have blighted her progress. Just imagine how much further she could have gone

She has now made the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams.

A telling statistic from today’s match is that 69 per cent of her first serves went in, and of those, she won 80 per cent of the points behind it.

She next faces the U.S. star Coco Gauff in the semi-final. 

Osaka played well at this year’s Wimbledon, and she does have another Slam in her. She is formidable on hard courts and is expected to be a contender at this year’s U.S. Open

After the match, Osaka said, “It’s hard because I played so well in my last match, then today I just feel like I didn’t play well at all, and I didn’t have any energy.

“I could feel it coming because I played even more matches than I usually do before a Slam. I just wanted to try that to see if the rhythm, you know? Obviously, it worked out well. But I think I probably won’t do that again. But yeah, I would say it was like an accumulation of playing two weeks straight without a day off.”

In an interview after her victory, Muchova said, “ It’s unbelievable. I am super happy with today’s win, with this atmosphere. I’m super happy we finally made it today, and I got that win in front of you all.

“I was very nervous, but she’s an unbelievable athlete. We played so many times, we played a week ago. You can’t lose that focus. You have to keep going and play every point because you give her a little chance and she takes it.

“I love grass. I love to play on the surface. The season is so short for us, so I try to enjoy it. It’s perfect that I can be here in my second week…in London with you.”