Naomi Osaka of Japan in the second round match against Kasolina Muchova Czech Republic during the Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain, May 2, 2021. CFP
Naomi Osaka of Japan in the second round match against Kasolina Muchova Czech Republic during the Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain, May 2, 2021. CFP
Second-ranked Naomi Osaka is out of the Madrid Open as Karolina Muchova won 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in the second round Sunday.
Muchova eased through the deciding set to earn her third win against a top-10 opponent this year. The 20th-ranked Czech was a semi-finalist at the Australian Open, which was won by Osaka in February.
"It was a tough match today, but we had some preparation," Muchova said. "I was ready to play with all I had today and to use all the weapons I could and [do] what I can."
Osaka was coming off a quarter-final loss to Maria Sakkari in Miami.
"On the third set, I felt I just started off really bad, and I couldn't afford to do that," Osaka said.
Muchova next faces 16th-seeded Sakkari, who defeated Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 6-1.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat sixth-seeded Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 7-5, while fifth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-3. Third seed Simona Halep past China's Zheng Saisai 6-0, 6-4.
Source(s): AP