Muchova’s grass surge sweeps Osaka aside and into the Wimbledon semifinals
A ninth straight win on grass carried Karolina Muchova past Naomi Osaka and into a maiden Wimbledon semifinal, making the Czech a Grand Slam semifinalist at all four majors while ending Osaka’s perfect record in major quarterfinals.
Karolina Muchova, Wimbledon 2026 | © SPP / PsNewz
Karolina Muchova is playing the best grass-court tennis of her life at just the right moment. The Czech No. 10 seed produced a grass-court masterclass to beat Japan’s Naomi Osaka, the No. 14 seed, 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Tuesday evening and reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time.
The win stretched a purple patch on the surface to a ninth straight victory, a run that includes her maiden grass title at Bad Homburg. It also filled the last gap in her Grand Slam record. Muchova has now reached the semifinals at all four majors – her fifth career Slam semifinal, and her first in two years – becoming the fourth player representing Czechoslovakia or the Czech Republic in the Open Era to make the last four at every major, after Hana Mandlikova, Jana Novotna and Karolina Pliskova.
Against a four-time major champion and former world No. 1, Muchova was the sharper player throughout. She edged a tense opening-set tiebreak and pressed home the advantage with a decisive break in the second, her variety and control too much for Osaka on the night. The defeat also ended Osaka’s perfect record in Grand Slam quarterfinals, which had stood at 5-0 – a run built this fortnight on a statement win over top seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Neither woman could hold serve at the start. Four breaks flew by in the opening exchanges, holding almost impossible and tension crackling on every point, as Muchova and Osaka traded blows all the way to 2-2. Then the storm passed – for Muchova. From 2-2 she did not lose her serve again, steadying herself while the set drifted toward a tiebreak, and when it arrived she was the cleaner, calmer player, taking it 7-4 to claim a set that had looked anyone’s.
Gauff only Grand Slam champion remaining
The second set settled into the same rhythm as the first’s back half: hold followed hold, the pressure simmering without boiling over, all the way to 4-4. That was Muchova’s moment. She finally cracked the Osaka serve, breaking for 5-4 before serving out the match, sealing a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win with the same composure that had carried her through the middle of the contest.
Muchova will next meet Coco Gauff, the No. 7 seed, for a place in the final. Gauff leads their head-to-head 6-1, but Muchova won their most recent meeting on clay at Stuttgart this year, and the two have never faced each other on grass.
Osaka’s exit leaves Coco Gauff as the only Grand Slam champion remaining in the women’s singles draw – the 2023 US Open and 2025 Roland-Garros winner sharing what is left of it with Paolini, Muchova, Kostyuk, Mertens and Noskova.
Wimbledon 2016, women’s singles, quarter finals
K. Muchova [10] d. N. Osaka [14]: 7-6, 6-4
C. Gauff [7] d. J. Pegula [4]: 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
M. Kostyuk [12] vs. J. Paolini [13]
L. Nokosva [9] vs. E. Mertens [25]
