Naomi Osaka is back in the business end of a Slam, and emphatically so. On Wednesday night inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, the former world No.1 powered past Karolina Muchova, 6-3, 7-6(3), to book her spot in the US Open semifinals.
It’s Osaka’s first trip to the final four at a Slam since her title run at the 2021 Australian Open, and once which saw her displayed her trademark mental toughness and awe inspiring power. The four-time major champion, 21 months into her comeback from maternity leave, improves to a pristine 13-0 in quarterfinals, semifinals and finals at the majors, underscoring just how dangerous she remains when the stakes are highest.
Osaka played well from start to finish, striking 30 winners to 21 for Muchova, as she denied the Czech a third consecutive appearance in the US Open semifinals.
Muchova struggled with an upper leg issue, and had to leave the court for treatment after the opening set, but she didn’t appear to be hampered in the second set. It should also be said that she played four three-setters to reach the quarterfinals.
“I think it was, like, third game or third or fifth,” she later recalled. “I just stepped like little wrong with ugly move. I don’t know what it is. I think it’s just something with the muscle that’s hopefully not going to take me long to heal.
“But, yeah, it limited me a little bit on the court, but I played pretty long matches here. That for sure didn’t help me, yeah.”
The 26-year-old earned the lone break of the opener in the final game of the set, then survived a topsy-turvy second that featured two trades of breaks before putting her foot down in the tiebreak.
“I was just trying to hang in there and see if I got an opportunity,” Osaka said. “Luckily I did, and I was able to take it.”
A semifinal clash with American Amanda Anisimova comes next. Osaka is well aware of the challenge of facing the surging American who engineered one of the biggest wins of her career on Wednesday against Iga Swiatek.
“Definitely for me she’s always been one of the most talented players on tour,” she said. “I think no one wants to see her name next to theirs, especially with what she would potentially do. I think she’s one of the players where you don’t know where she’s going to hit the ball.”
Osaka, bidding to become the first mother to win the US Open since Kim Clijsters in 2010, and the first mom to claim a Slam title since Clijsters at the 2011 Australian Open, added perspective on her journey.
“The first thing I did after becoming a mom was put pressure on myself. I would always tell myself, like, if I’m away from my daughter, it has to mean something. Granted, she’s here right now. She wasn’t here in Montreal, though, but I think I let all of those expectations go, and I’m just trying to have fun and play and, you know, just see what happens.”
