Osaka survives 2 match points, will face unseeded Hsie next

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA» So good for so long lately, Naomi Osaka was just one point from the end of her lengthy winning streak, one point from leaving the Australian Open with a loss to Garbiñe Muguruza.

Bleak as things looked for her late in a bighitting matchup of Grand Slam champions and former No. 1-ranked women, Osaka never wavered, erasing two match points and grabbing the last four games to edge Muguruza 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 at Rod Laver Arena in the fourth round Sunday.

The third-seeded Osaka returns to the quarterfinals of a tournament she won in 2019 for one of her three major trophies. Osaka ran her winning streak to 18 matches — a run that included a U.S. Open title in September — and put a stop to Muguruza’s own fine form of late.

Heading into Sunday — the second day of the tournament without any spectators, because of a local COVID-19 lockdown — twotime major champion Muguruza had been broken only once in this Australian Open.

She had dropped a total of 10 games through three matches.

But Osaka broke her five times and won 17 games in all in a contest featuring entertaining baseline back-and-forth play and terrific serving by both on a cloudy day.

“I was a bit intimidated, because I knew that she was playing really well coming into this match,” Osaka said.

Osaka wound up with more unforced errors, 36-28, but also more winners, 40-24.

The key moment came when Osaka was serving at 15-40 while trailing 5-3 in the final set. Muguruza could not convert either of those match points: Osaka delivered one of her 11 aces at 118 mph on the first; Muguruza missed a groundstroke on the second.

Fifteen minutes later, the match was be over.

Serena Williams also survived a scare, getting past No. 7 seed Aryna Sabalenka in three sets.

The 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory put Williams one step closer to her record-tying 24th Grand Slam title overall and eighth championship at Melbourne Park.