Naomi Osaka’s longest streak at Wimbledon has come to an end. Osaka, who defeated top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round, couldn’t maintain the same magic when she faced Karolina Muchova in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Osaka lost to Muchova in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4.
If the first set was any indication, fans were in for a tense match. Osaka and Muchova traded games, with Muchova being the only one with back-to-back wins during the set. The score was tied at 6-6 after 12 games, and the first set went into a tiebreak.
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Osaka fell behind in the early stages of the tie-break and was unable to recover.
Osaka took a medical timeout early in the set and had her ankle taped. This issue did not seem to affect her play on set, but the longer the match dragged on, the more it became a notable issue.
The ankle didn’t seem to be able to hold Osaka back in the second set. She and Muchova continued to trade games, keeping it close as the set progressed. After seven games, Osaka held a narrow lead at 4-3, but they had yet to win consecutive games.
That tendency put her in a difficult position in the second set. Osaka, who lost her second consecutive match to Muchova, is now one game away from elimination. Osaka had a strong showing in the set, hitting six aces in the first nine games, but also had three double faults and 15 unforced errors.
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Muchova quickly ended the match, hitting two aces in a row to secure the victory.
This is the first time in her career that Muchova has made it past the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. She has previously reached the quarterfinals twice, in 2019 and 2021, but failed to advance in either competition.
Muchova is aiming for her first Grand Slam title. She has reached the semifinals of four other Grand Slam tournaments, but has only reached the final of one Grand Slam tournament. It was the 2023 French Open, where Muchova lost to Iga Swiatek.
It marks the end of Osaka’s deepest run to date at Wimbledon. She won the Australian Open and the French Open twice during her career, but success at Wimbledon proved elusive. Until 2026, Osaka had never made it past the third round in this tournament.
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Despite this, she did a decent job of continuing to run on Tuesday. She came into the match as a slightly higher seed. In the past three head-to-head matches, Osaka and Muchova have a record of 3 wins and 3 losses against each other. Osaka didn’t necessarily have the advantage, but Tuesday looked like it would be a close battle. Muchova won in straight sets, but both players appeared evenly matched throughout most of the match.
With the win, Muchova advances to the semifinals, where she will face Coco Gauff on Thursday.
