Karolina Muchova secured her place in the second consecutive US Open semifinal with a 6-1, 6-4 win over 22nd seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in 1 hour and 25 minutes.

US Open: Results | Pull | Playing order

The Czech required medical treatment and left the court several times in the second set, but kept her concentration and secured a victory that represents a remarkable comeback from her injury.

“A bit of a strange match, I must say,” said Muchova in an interview on the court. “I had a lot of problems, I don’t want to comment on that. I’m glad I managed to run to the toilet and back. Sorry if it bothered anyone, but I had no other choice!”

Muchova will play either No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek or No. 6 seed Jessica Pegula for a chance to reach her second Grand Slam final after Roland Garros 2023. Swiatek has a 2-1 record against Muchova, while Pegula leads 1-0; all of those matches went to three sets.

Muchova’s run to the 2023 semifinals was the last tournament she would play for another nine months as she underwent wrist surgery. But in just her sixth event since returning to action in June and now ranked 52nd in the world, Muchova has made it to the fourth major semifinal of her career without dropping a set. She is the fourth unseeded major semifinalist of 2024 after Dayana Yastremska (Australian Open), Mirra Andreeva (Roland Garros) and Donna Vekic (Wimbledon).

The result is Muchova’s fourth win in as many meetings with Haddad Maia. The pair first met in qualifying at the 2016 ITF W100 event in Cagnes-sur-Mer, which Muchova won 7-5, 6-1. She also triumphed in both of their tour-level encounters, in the first rounds of Ostrava 2022 and Cincinnati 2023.

Notably, the US Open is the first tour-level tournament where Muchova has reached multiple semifinals. She is the first Czech woman to reach consecutive US Open semifinals since Helena Sukova in 1986/87.

Key to the game: The match began with two multiple deuce duels – and Muchova set the tone by winning both. Three consecutive service victories rescued her from an opening game in which she fended off two break points, then converted her fifth break point with a powerful forehand on a Haddad Maia serve.

That start didn’t help Haddad Maia settle in. The Brazilian fell behind in the first set, making 10 unforced errors and hitting just six winners. Although she raised her level in the second set, it was Muchova who struck first, hitting a backhand winner down the line to break for 3-2.

But by now it was clear that Muchova was injured. After receiving medical treatment on the court, she gave back the break with two double faults and two forehands that went into the net. Her dip in form was short-lived, however. From the score of 3:3, Muchova played even more precisely and with more concentration in order to achieve her goals and free up space for winners in the rallies as quickly as possible.

The strategy worked. In the final stretch of the match, she hit a series of precisely placed forehand winners and maintained her serve level excellently. Overall, Muchova hit 76% of her first serves and dropped only eight of these points. In total, she hit 19 winners, Haddad Maia 12.