Naomi Osaka produced an extraordinary comeback from match point down in the decider to stun Garbine Muguruza 4-6 6-4 7-5 and book her quarter-final place at the 2021 Australian Open.
The Japanese player, 23, looked to be heading out of the tournament at 3-5 and 15-40 in the third set. But she summoned her best tennis when she needed it most to turn the contest around.
“I was a bit intimidated because I knew she was playing really coming into this match,” Osaka said in her on-court interview. “In the stressful points I had to go within myself. I know I probably hit a lot of unforced errors, but it was something I needed to do because I couldn’t really give her any short balls because she would finish it.”
Although Muguruza did not do a lot wrong, this was still a big opportunity that passed her by. She was in excellent form and she would have had a great chance to win her first Grand Slam title since 2017 if she had beaten the World No.3, who was one of the pre-tournament favourites.
Muguruza seizes the initiative
Osaka started the match superbly. She hit a couple of aces and a series of fierce groundstrokes to open up a 2-0 lead. However, she double faulted at 30-30 in game three and Muguruza pounced to break back and then held to make it 2-2.
The next four games only took about 10 minutes as both players settled into a good rhythm on serve and moved the score along to 4-4.
Muguruza put Osaka under pressure immediately in game nine with a crisp forehand winner. And the Japanese player faltered. She made three unforced errors to hand the Spaniard a break at a critical time.
Muguruza made sure she did not give Osaka a way back into the set. She served well and drew a couple of errors from her opponent’s racket as she held to clinch the opener 6-4.
Osaka hits back
Muguruza maintained her momentum early in the second set. She hit a classy forehand winner and a precise lob to gain an immediate break. She then held to love to make it 2-0.
Osaka stopped the rot in style with a forehand winner and two aces during a love hold that took just 48 seconds. Then the Spaniard gave her a route back into the set by making a series of errors to surrender her serve.
The middle of the second set mirrored the first. Both players serenely held serve twice to make it 4-4 once again. The World No.3 then held again to lead 5-4.
At the end of the first set, it was Osaka who slipped up. In the last game of the second set, it was Muguruza’s turn. She made three unforced errors to provide the Japanese player with three break points, and the three-time Grand Slam champion took the third to level the match.
Osaka snatches victory from the jaws of defeat
The decider went with serve for the first four games. Then Osaka made a sloppy error and a double fault to hand Muguruza a break. She threw her racket away and looked very frustrated at the changeover.
After a gutsy hold from the Spaniard made it 4-2, both players produced some excellent tennis to hold serve and move the score along to 5-3.
It looked as if the Japanese player was about to meekly surrender when she made three consecutive errors to hand Muguruza two match points.
With her place in the Australian Open slipping away, Osaka somehow found strength within. She saved the first match point with a huge ace and drilled a forehand into the corner to force an error from the Spaniard on the second. Then she struck a forehand winner and an ace to secure the hold.
The World No.3 cranked up the pressure on Muguruza when she was serving for the match with some massive hitting. The Spaniard managed to save two break points, but Osaka hit two consecutive winners to seize it and level the score at 5-5.
By this stage, Muguruza was starting to look forlorn as she wondered whether her chance had gone. She played two excellent points in game eleven but the Japanese player held comfortably.
Any fighting spirit within the Spaniard seemed to leave her in the next game. She made three unforced errors and dropped her serve to love. And just like that, her Melbourne dream was over.
Hsieh awaits Osaka in last eight
Osaka, meanwhile, must now prepare for a quarter-final with one of this year’s surprise packages, Su-Wei Hsieh. The inventive 35-year-old from Chinese Taipei thrashed 19th seed Marketa Vondrousova 6-4 6-2. And the Japanese star is very familiar with her game after five previous meetings.
“I’m not really looking forward to it,” Osaka admitted. “She’s going to be really tough. Every time I played her it was three sets and really long.”
She continued, “All the people she’s played are super-difficult. And I feel like when I play her, I just have to expect everything.”
