Muchova steamrolls Cirstea in yet another one-sided US Open quarter-final
In a match that showcased her incredible ball-striking skills, Karolina Muchova has set a tantalising semi-final against Coco Gauff, breezing past Sorana Cirstea 6-0, 6-1
Karolina Muchova US Open 2023 – Zuma / Panoramic
Karolina Muchova has required just over an hour and a half to dispatch Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the US Open quarter-finals, racing past the No 30 seed for the loss of just three games, 6-0, 6-3.
It a case of “what you do, I can do better” for Muchova, who will now face Coco Gauff, with the American also dishing out a thrashing in her quarter-final, winning 6-0, 6-2 against Jelena Ostapenko.
While Gauff’s victory was largely at the hands of Ostapenko sinking herself through unforced errors, Muchova grabbed the bull by the horns and won this quarter-final on her own racquet.
Muchova too good for Cirstea, despite second set resistance
Mirroring Gauff’s quarter-final as well, Karolina Muchova started fast against Sorana Cirstea, bagelling the Romanian in the opening stanza.
In the second, Cirstea did well to fight back, breaking Muchova in her opening service game and at one stage looking like she might sink her teeth into this clash.
However, with the Czech native blasting 32 winners, six aces and only 15 unforced errors, there was no chance that Cirstea could stick with Muchova in the second set either. Despite the Romanian having 11 break point opportunities across the match, she could only capitalise on one of them, with her opponent overpowering her 6-3 in the second set to make her third Grand Slam semi-final.
Dominant head-to-head continues for Czech
Muchova now improves her head-to-head against Cirstea to 4-1, with the Czech winning just weeks ago in Montreal, also in straight sets.
The victory keeps the prospect of an all-Czech final at the US Open, with Marketa Vondrousova still alive in the bottom half of the draw, facing Madison Keys for a spot in the semi-finals tomorrow.
“Big competition in Czech Republic, said Muchova. “It’s tough. But we support each other. That’s very important. Marketa is here playing tomorrow. I’m very happy for her. It’s just great that we can push one another.”
While Cirstea recorded the second longest gap between appearances in women’s Grand Slam quarter-finals (it’s been 14 years since the Romanian made the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros in 2009), for Muchova it’s a very different story. She becomes just the second Czech to make the semi-finals of both Roland-Garros and the US Open, after Helena Sukova did so in 1986.
