July 5 (Reuters) – Tenth seed Karolina Muchova snuffed out the Wimbledon hopes of friend and 2024 champion Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday, winning 7-5 5-7 6-3 in a tight battle for Czech supremacy and a place in the quarter-finals.
Muchova, 29, used her athletic game of precise volleys, delicate drop-shots and searing cross court winners to overcome Krejcikova, at 30 just eight months older than Muchova, and now ranked 38th in the world, in warm sunshine on Court Two.
Muchova stepped up her aggression in the 12th game, attacking the Krejcikova serve and winning the first set with a sizzling cross court backhand return. She produced a total of 50 winners in the match, to Krejcikova’s 24.
She wore down her compatriot in a mamsymoth 16-minute sixth game of the second set, taking it on her fourth break point.
But just when she looked down and out, Krejcikova, who also has the 2021 French Open title to her name, roared back to win five games in a row and force a decider.
Muchova steadied her nerves, grabbed a break in the fourth game of the third set as Krejcikova, whose career has been beset by injury, appeared to tire in the heat, and took the match with a lobbed forehand winner before hugging her opponent at the net.
(Reporting by Clare Lovell, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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