Osaka saves 2 match points, rallies past Muguruza
Naomi Osaka fought off two match points and came back to eliminate Garbine Muguruza 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a big-hitting fourth-round…
MELBOURNE, Australia — Naomi Osaka fought off two match points and came back to eliminate Garbine Muguruza in a big-hitting fourth-round matchup of Grand Slam champions at the Australian Open.
The third-seeded Osaka grabbed the last four games to win 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in Rod Laver Arena.
That result puts her back in the quarterfinals of a tournament she won in 2019 for one of her three major trophies.
Osaka was serving at 15-40 while trailing 5-3 in the final set. But Muguruza could not convert either of those match points and wouldn’t win another game.
Osaka now faces unseeded 35-year-old Hsie Su-wei of Taiwain with a semifinal berth at stake.
Hsieh’s 6-4, 6-2 victory over 2019 French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova made her the oldest woman to make her major quarterfinal debut in the professional era.
This is Hsieh’s 38th main-draw appearance at a major tournament. The 19th-seeded Vondrousova made 31 unforced errors, 13 more than Hsieh.
Hsieh is ranked 71st and plays with an unusual style that includes two-handed shots off both sides.
She beat 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu in the second round at Melbourne Park.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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