Karolína Muchová Loses to Amanda Anisimova in Beijing, Faces Ranking Drop

Karolína Muchová ‍(29) will not repeat last year’s final appearance at the prestigious WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing and will have to leave the top twenty⁤ world‍ ranking. The Czech number one⁤ dominated the beginning of her round-of-sixteen match with Amanda Anisimova (24), but the American ultimately won ⁣1:6, ⁣6:2, 6:4.

Marie Bouzková (27) also did not advance to the quarterfinals, succumbing to the sixth-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini (29) in two sets 2:6 and 5:7.

Muchova – Anisimovova 6:1, 2:6, 4:6

The opening set⁣ was surprisingly one-sided, lasting only 28 minutes. Muchová ‍played aggressively, hitting 11 winners and making only three unforced errors, while Anisimova struggled in all aspects of the‍ game.

Muchová led 4:0 within fifteen minutes,with Anisimova only getting on the scoreboard after the fifth game,where she saved a break point. The finalist of the last two Grand Slam tournaments couldn’t recover, winning only ⁣one point in the following two games.

However, Muchová couldn’t maintain her dominance, ⁢and the match turned. She held her serve in the opening game⁢ of the second set, but Anisimova then stepped up her game, putting Muchová under pressure and gradually gaining confidence. She⁢ won the next ⁣five games,⁣ securing two breaks.

Muchová didn’t threaten the luxury lead of her opponent. While⁢ Anisimova⁤ had the same number of winners as unforced errors in this set, Muchová finished with a negative 3:10 ratio.

The decisive set was the most balanced. With the score at 4:4, service games were generally easy, except for one instance where Muchová had to save a break point in the third game. In the critical ninth game, Anisimova was more aggressive, and several powerful returns created an opportunity to serve for the match. The American successfully converted this chance, winning after two hours of play.