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Match Details
Fixture: (10) Karolina Muchova vs Sorana Cirstea
Date: September 5, 2023
Tournament: US Open 2023
Round: Quarterfinal
Venue: New York, United States
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $65,000,000
Live telecast: USA - ESPN | Canada - TSN | UK - Sky Sports | India - Sony Sports
Karolina Muchova vs Sorana Cirstea preview
2023 French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova will play against Sorana Cirstea in the quarterfinals of the 2023 US Open on Tuesday.
Muchova defeated Storm Hunter, Magdalena Frech and Taylor Townsend, all in straight sets, to reach the fourth round. She then faced Wang Xinyu for a spot in the last eight.
Muchova drew first blood in the opening set to go 2-1 up, but Wang broke back immediately to level the score. The former then bagged the next three games to go 5-2 up. While the Czech failed to close out the set on her own serve, she broke her opponent's serve in the next game to get the job done.
The second set started with five straight breaks of serve, with Wang gaining the edge to lead 3-2. Muchova managed to get back on serve down the line, but the Chinese swept the last three games of the set to take it.
The third set was fairly one-sided, with Muchova dropping just one game in it to win the match 6-3, 5-7, 6-1. She has now made it to the quarterfinals here for the first time.
Cirstea scored wins over Kayla Day, Anna Kalinskaya and Elena Rybakina to make it to the fourth round, where she faced Belinda Bencic. The Romanian was off to a fast start as she raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set.
Bencic tried to claw her way back into the match as she claimed the next three games to make it 5-3. However, Cirstea managed to serve out the set on her second try.
Cirstea struck first in the second to build up a 3-1 lead. From the fifth game onwards, neither player was able to hold serve. But the Romanian's early advantage helped her to win the match 6-3, 6-3.
Karolina Muchova vs Sorana Cirstea head-to-head
Muchova leads Cirstea 3-1 in the head-to-head. The Czech won their previous encounter at the 2023 Canadian Open in straight sets.
Karolina Muchova vs Sorana Cirstea odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Karolina Muchova vs Sorana Cirstea prediction
Cirstea's win over Bencic has secured her a first Major quarterfinal berth since the 2009 French Open. She has been on a giant-killing spree this tournament, scoring some impressive scalps so far. She'll look to do the same against the World No. 10 in the next round.
Muchova's level of play was a bit up and down against Wang. Her serve let her down by a fair margin as her serve got broken six times, threw in seven double faults and won 64% of her first serve points. Despite her serve being all over the place, the Czech played a tactically astute game to get rid of Wang.
Cirstea's could find it tough to outfox Muchova with her baseline oriented game. The latter isn't going to allow her to settle into a rhythm to dictate the play. The Czech is also more experienced at this stage of Majors, which could help her prevail in the end.
Pick: Karolina Muchova to win in three sets.
