Karolina Muchova saw opportunities to seal the win pass her by against Naomi Osaka in the China Open fourth round, but she eventually got over the line on her ninth match point.

It was a rollercoaster of a match, but Muchova came out on top 7-5 1-6 7-6 (9-7) in the marathon two-hour-and-52-minute clash.

Osaka was on top in the early stages, reeling off the first three games, but after going 4-1 up, she could not hold onto her lead.

Muchova dug deep, going on a four-game winning streak to turn things around, and though Osaka earned a break to stop her, the Czech responded immediately with another one of her own to take the first set.

Osaka started the second set the way she did the first – by going 3-0 up – and though Muchova pulled a game back, the 28-year-old held off three break points in the next and forced a decider.

Osaka again struck first in the third set, but Muchova fired back in the sixth game to draw level once again before forcing triple match point on her opponent's serve in the ninth game.

She failed to convert, and in fact was unable to take a total of five opportunities in that game to seal victory.

It looked like her luck could run out after another three match points went begging in the tie-break, but she finally got over the line with her ninth.

Resilient Muchova Karolina Muchova moves onto the next round in Beijing after defeating Osaka after an incredible tiebreaker! #ChinaOpen https://t.co/l2LHeTy60X

— wta (@WTA) October 6, 2026

She will face Nikola Baturina in an all-Czech quarter-final, after her compatriot beat Sinja Kraus 6-0 4-6 6-3.

But Linda Noskova will not be joining them in the next round after she was beaten by Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2 6-2.

Mirra Andreeva won by the same scoreline, brushing aside Daria Snigur to book her place in the last eight.

Muchova shows her grit

Muchova remains undefeated at WTA level in 2026, both after winning the first set (33-0) and in third-set tiebreaks (3-0), though she certainly did things the hard way.

She will not mind, though, after booking her place in a fourth quarter-final at WTA 1000 level or above this season, following her Doha title, Wimbledon final run and reaching the last four in Miami.

Muchova (52.1%, 25-24) is one of only four players in the Open Era to hold a career-winning record against grand slam champions, among those not to have won a major event themselves – minimum of 20 matches.

As for her fellow quarter-finalists, since the inception of the tournament in 2004, Andreeva is the second teenager to reach multiple quarter-finals at the China Open, along with Maria Sharapova (2004-05).

And Alexandrova is the oldest player to reach her maiden quarter-final at the China Open since the inception of the tournament.