Karolina Muchova, ranked 49th, defeated first seed Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to go to the China Open semifinals on Friday.
The Czech player triumphed 7-6 (7/5), 2-6, 6-4 and will face either China’s Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen or 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the final.
Coco Gauff, last year’s US Open champion, faced Spain’s former world number two Paula Badosa in the other semi-final in Beijing.
Sabalenka, the world number two, was on a 15-match winning streak, including trophies in Cincinnati and the United States Open.
The Belarusian has previously struggled with Muchova, who was in the top ten this time last year before suffering an injury.
Muchova, a US Open semi-finalist, had won their last two meetings, both of which went to a deciding set.
This encounter proved to be just as close.
Sabalenka, a three-time major champion, faced three break points early on but held steady. She then had to sniff her opponent’s serve at 2-1, but Muchova, too, refused to give up.
The hard hitting Sabalenka had set point on Muchova’s serve at 5-4, but she squandered the opportunity when her forehand went wide on the Czech’s second serve.
Muchova double-faulted, giving Sabalenka another chance to finish the set, but she again failed to capitalize.
The Czech had two set points in the tiebreak, the second coming at the end of a remarkable rally to go ahead by a set.
Sabalenka, 26, has dropped her first set since the third round in New York.
Sabalenka opened the second set quickly, breaking for 2-1 and breaking again on her route to a relatively easy victory.
Neither could hold serve in the deciding set before Muchova, who appeared to be wilting in the face of her opponent’s better strength, clinched the victory in two hours and 46 minutes.
Last year, at the age of 28, Muchova was ranked ninth in the world after reaching the French Open final and semi-finals at Flushing Meadows.
However, her 2023 season ended after the US Open due to wrist surgery, and she did not play for nearly ten months before returning this summer.
