Czech player Karolina Muchova showcased exceptional serve-and-volley skills, defeating two-time champion Naomi Osaka in the second round of the U.S. Open with a score of 6-3, 7-6(5) on Thursday.

After having the best season of her career last year, Muchova faced a ten-month setback due to a wrist injury. However, she returned to form at Arthur Ashe Stadium and is now set to face unseeded Russian Anastasia Potapova in the next round.

Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner from Japan, missed last year’s U.S. Open while on maternity leave. She had a strong performance in her opening match against 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko, but a series of crucial errors diminished her chances against Muchova.

Both players began the match evenly matched, but Muchova seized a break point in the seventh game when Osaka hit a backhand error. Osaka lost her serve again in the ninth game.

Osaka managed to break Muchova’s serve with a fierce forehand at the corner in the ninth game of the second set and had the momentum going as she led 40-0 in the tenth game.

Unfortunately for Osaka, her forehand started to fail her, leading to frustration as she broke her racket after hitting the second break point long, allowing Muchova to clinch the match in the tiebreak.

Jannik Sinner shines, Hubert Hurkacz exits

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner swiftly defeated 20-year-old American Alex Michelsen in the second round of the U.S. Open with a score of 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 on Thursday in New York.

This victory marked Sinner’s 50th match win of the season and his 30th on hard courts, the highest on the ATP Tour.

Sinner saved 3 out of 5 break points and was able to break Michelsen’s serve 8 times out of 16 attempts during the match, which lasted a tidy one hour and 39 minutes. He took advantage of Michelsen’s 32 unforced errors.

“I’m very happy to move forward. He is a tough opponent,” Sinner remarked after the match. “We played in Cincinnati recently, so I had some idea of what to expect.”

Sinner will face Australian Christopher O’Connell in the third round, who triumphed over Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

However, it wasn’t as easy for other top seeds on Thursday. Unseeded Jordan Thompson from Australia took down No. 7 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland with a score of 7-6 (2), 6-1, 7-5.

Thompson recorded 13 aces and only made two double faults while winning 42 out of 51 first-service points, achieving an impressive 82.4 percent success rate.

Czech Tomas Machac upset No. 16 seed Sebastian Korda of the U.S. with a score of 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, marking his first progression to the third round of the U.S. Open.

“It was a challenging match. I started solid, and so did Sebi,” Machac said. “At the beginning of the third set, I noticed he seemed to have some discomfort, but he kept fighting like he wasn’t in pain. So I had to stay focused on my own game.”

Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo narrowly defeated No. 24 seed Arthur Fils of France, winning 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4.

No. 10 seed Alex de Minaur handled Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen with a score of 7-5, 6-1, 7-6 (3), while No. 25 seed Jack Draper from Great Britain, No. 30 seed Matteo Arnaldi, and No. 31 seed Flavio Cobolli, both from Italy, also moved on to the next round.

No. 14 seed Tommy Paul was ahead 7-5, 6-0, 1-0 when his Australian opponent Max Purcell had to retire.

Great Britain’s Daniel Evans, fresh off his historic five-hour and 35-minute match win, dispatched Argentina’s Mariano Navone in quicker fashion, winning 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. Other winners included Nuno Borges from Portugal, Belgium’s David Goffin, and Jakub Mensik from the Czech Republic.