Aryna Sabalenka's outstanding form continued on Wednesday after she ousted Madison Keys 6-4 6-3 but now the Belarusian is set to meet Karolina Muchova, the player who handed her one of her most painful Grand Slam defeats.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Czech, who is currently ranked at No. 49 in the world after returning to tennis in June following a 10-month injury absence, annihilated Cristina Bucsa 6-2 6-0 in Beijing round-of-16..
For the 2024 French Open runner-up, it was her fourth straight-set win at the China Open and she has impressively dropped a total of just games 12 games through her first four matches.
However, Sabalenka is also playing as well as ever, having won her past 15 matches.
Heading into the Beijing quarterfinal showdown, it is safe to say that both players are currently in great form. And while the top-seeded Belarusian deserves to be given the edge considering that she is coming off back-to-back victories in Cincinnati and the US Open, it should not be forgotten that Muchova won both of their meetings last year.
ADVERTISEMENT
Do you remember what happened in the Sabalenka and Muchova French Open semifinal?
After becoming a Grand Slam champion at the 2023 Australian Open, the current world No. 2 also eased past her opening five matches at Roland Garros.
In the semifinal, she opened a 5-2 third-set lead against the Czech and everything appeared to be set for a big final showdown between the Belarusian and Iga Swiatek. But then, Sabalenka blew a match point on Muchova's serve in the eighth game - then lost her serve in back-to-back games - and the 28-year-old went on to complete a stunning 7-6 (5) 6-7 (5) 7-5 win.
Two months later, the now two-time Grand Slam champion suffered another tough loss to the same rival after the Czech came back from a set down to win 6-7 (4) 6-3 6-2 their Cincinnati semifinal match.
ADVERTISEMENT
When they meet in Beijing, it will be their fourth meeting as Muchova leads their head-to-head 2-1 - the Belarusian's lone win came in their 2019 WTA Elite Trophy meeting.
While Sabalenka is the favorite, Muchova is also playing extremely well and it will be interesting to see if the top seed can beat the Czech and make some amends for the tough losses she suffered last year.
