Swiatek or Anisimova? Osaka or Muchova? Breaking down Wednesday's US Open matches

With Iga Swiatek seeking her second title in New York, Amanda Anisimova out to rewrite her Wimbledon memory, Naomi Osaka finding her form again and Karolina Muchova grinding through marathon matches, the last four spots in the semifinals will not come easy.

NEW YORK -- Monday’s first two fourth-round matches were surprisingly swift.

Iga Swiatek defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-1 and Naomi Osaka was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over No. 3 Coco Gauff -- with both matches ending in 64 minutes.

But the grueling Grandstand match between Karolina Muchova and Marta Kostyuk lasted nearly three hours. When Muchova emerged a 6-3, 6-7 (0), 6-3 winner, she was the third woman from the Czech Republic, following Barbora Krejcikova and Marketa Vondrousova, into the last eight.

There is no Czech system, Muchova insisted. All three gifted players came from different circumstances, supported by friends and family.

“When we see each other here in the locker, I think we are all happy for each other and we talk and all that. Obviously with Marketa, we are from the same club, so I know her a little better than Bora. We support each other.

“Three of us in the quarters, it’s so nice for our country.”

Amanda Anisimova, a late-night 6-0, 6-3 winner over Beatriz Haddad Maia, was the last player into the quarters, and it completed a remarkable final eight. Five of them have won Grand Slam singles titles and the other three all reached at least one major final. It has only happened two other times in the Open Era.

There’s a lot to unpack here. We make the case for the four participants in Wednesday’s bottom-half quarterfinals:

No. 2 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 8 Amanda Anisimova, 1 p.m. ET

Head-to-head: Swiatek, 1-0.

Advantage, Swiatek

That single head-to-head number -- 1 -- seems innocuous enough, but it carries a lot of weight.

The recent history between them looms over this Top 10 matchup. Seven weeks ago, Swiatek defeated Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in the Wimbledon final. Looking at the upcoming match, it’s a difficult result to ignore.

With those kinds of stakes, there is no mercy.

Soaring into the quarterfinals 🚀@iga_swiatek secures the win against Alexandrova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.#USOpen pic.twitter.com/xnfWOT6rRF — wta (@WTA) September 1, 2025

“I think most of us were raised that way,” Swiatek said. “If you want to become an athlete, you need to want to win the point.

“Honestly, I think every athlete has kind of the same vision and mentality, but obviously because of the score at Wimbledon, everybody started asking this question. When you don’t play sports, you don’t get it, but if you do, then you know that you’re not going to give anything for free.”

With her amped-up serve and more aggressive groundstrokes she’s carried over from winning at Wimbledon, Swiatek leaves opponents feeling rushed. Alexandrova lost her last two serves of the first set by 1) Missing an easy volley into a wide-open court, and 2) Following back-to-back double faults, trying an ill-advised dropshot that didn’t clear the net.

Yes, Swiatek’s won four titles on the red clay at Roland Garros -- but no, she’s hardly a clay-court specialist. It might surprise you to learn that Swiatek is the first woman to record 30 or more hard-court wins for four consecutive years since Elina Svitolina (2016-19).

She’s looking for her second title here in four years and is bidding to become the first woman since Serena Williams (2012) to win Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year. At 24, she’s also the youngest woman to reach the quarterfinals in all four majors since 18-year-old Maria Sharapova two decades ago.

No active woman has been better in Grand Slams. Swiatek is 104-20, which works out to a stellar winning percentage of .839.

Beyond that Wimbledon result, this seems like pretty compelling evidence for another victory and a berth in the semifinals.

Advantage, Anisimova

In a sport where every player in the draw but one ends the tournament with a loss, the ability to reset is a professional necessity.

After losing that final to Swiatek, Anisimova has rallied nicely. She beat Emma Raducanu in Montreal, split matches in Cincinnati -- and then ran off four straight here in New York.

“It wasn’t a good performance by any means,” the 24-year-old Anisimova said. “I feel like maybe I learned some things from it and some things I can do differently, but above all, I think it was just a learning experience.

BRILLIANT ✨

Amanda Anisimova reaches the final eight in New York after defeating Haddad Maia in straight sets!#USOpen pic.twitter.com/YT255RBrk1 — wta (@WTA) September 2, 2025

“Bouncing back from that actually was a little bit difficult, because that never happened to me before. So yeah, I feel like I have moved on from that.”

Anisimova, one of the purest ball-strikers, can create some astonishing angles from the baseline. She needs to separate herself from the occasion and focus on the ball in front of her.

Beyond the obvious desire for revenge, there’s some interesting motivation here. For lost in that Wimbledon defeat was the fact that Anisimova beat World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals. A win over Swiatek would make her the youngest player to defeat the PIF WTA Rankings Top 2 players since Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2009.

This is the deepest Anisimova has ever gone at the US Open. And while she admits the pressure is greater on Americans, she’s trying to embrace it. Playing mixed doubles ahead of singles, she added, gave her more time to adjust to the conditions.

“For sure, I’m really excited and looking forward to it,” Anisimova said. “To be able to have a rematch or to be able to face her again and give myself another chance, I’m really, really happy about that.”

No. 11 Karolina Muchova vs. No. 23 Naomi Osaka, 7 p.m. ET

Head-to-head: 2-2. It’s 1-all since Osaka’s return to the tour and both matches came in the second round of Grand Slams.

Advantage, Muchova

She loves New York and seems built for this place. Over the years, in between matches, she’s explored Manhattan’s different neighborhoods. Muchova’s happiest, she said, sitting on a rock in Central Park, coffee in hand, watching the people go by.

That comfort level can be seen in her results. Muchova is one win away from making the US Open semifinals for a third straight year, which would match fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova (2016-18).

That head-to-head record tells you this should be a tight one, something Osaka acknowledged.

“I know my match against Muchova is going to be really tough for me,” Osaka said. “She’s always been one of the most talented tennis players out there, and physically she moves really well, and she’s very strong.”

Grit and determination 😮‍💨@karomuchova7 books her place in the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 win against Kostyuk.#USOpen pic.twitter.com/VH7uAm9Ktv — wta (@WTA) September 1, 2025

Muchova, who practiced here with Osaka, returned the favor.

“I think she just now got more matches under her belt, winning matches,” Muchova said of Osaka. “I’d say she got that belief again that she can be the best, and trust her strokes more. Playing really fast, really good. Going to be tough.”

All four of Muchova’s matches have gone the distance, but she’s managed to win them all. After a day off, she should be good to go.

“I think I’m just fighting, and then when you are in the heat of the match,” Muchova said. “I don’t like to lose, so I just try to do everything to be able to win the match.

Osaka is moving better than she has in years, but Muchova is one of the best athletes in the sport, unafraid to come forward -- or even drop in a serve and volley.

That variety could be the difference.

Advantage, Osaka

In her mind, it didn’t happen nearly quickly enough -- but, slowly, inevitably, the championship mindset has returned. Twenty months after her return to the Hologic WTA Tour as a mother, Osaka is again a threat to win majors.

“I was really frustrated for a long time,” Osaka explained, “because I felt like I was playing well, but there was just something that I don't know if I was missing or it was just, like, a mentality thing.

“Then I played [Liudmila] Samsonova [in Montreal], and I didn’t give up until the very last point. I think from that moment on I just tried to be the biggest fighter that I can be.”

In fine form 🤩@naomiosaka defeats Gauff 6-3, 6-2 for her spot in the quarterfinals.#USOpen pic.twitter.com/TBRLKtFSf0 — wta (@WTA) September 1, 2025

Osaka looked energized against Gauff, while Muchova is dealing with a nagging wrist injury and seemed out of gas after going nearly three hours with Kostyuk. Fatigue could be an issue here, since all four of Muchova’s matches have gone three sets.

Muchova has dropped 53 games, equaling the Open Era record for the most going into the US Open quarterfinals, level with Sylvia Hanika (1979).

Better movement -- and the better mindset it helps create -- have made Osaka dangerous again. This is her fifth Grand Slam singles quarterfinal. The first four times she did it, Osaka won the title.

“I feel really relaxed -- I don’t feel stressed at all,” Osaka said. “I just wanted to have a better year than last year, and I already did that in Montreal. Whatever happens the rest of this tournament, the rest of Asia, I’m just trying to be a better tennis player and learn from every match that I play.”

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