"What happened, happened" - Rafael Nadal catchphrase helps Karolina Muchova put Cincinnati loss behind her ahead of US Open clash vs Coco Gauff
Karolina Muchova adopted a popular catchphrase from Rafael Nadal to put her defeat to Coco Gauff in Cincinnati behind her.
Muchova and Gauff are facing one another in the US Open semifinals. The Czech was seeded 10th in the tournament and booked her place in the fourth round with straight-sets wins over Storm Hunter, Magdalena Frech and Taylor Townsend. She then overcame a tough challenge from Wang Xinyu to win 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 to book her place in the quarterfinals.
Muchova faced 30th seed Sorana Cirstea in the last eight and thrashed her 6-0, 6-3 to reach her second Grand Slam semifinal of 2023.
The Czech is next up against sixth seed Coco Gauff not long after the two locked horns in the final of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. The American put in a fine performance to win 6-3, 6-4 and claim her maiden WTA 1000 title.
Karolina Muchova spoke to former doubles World No. 1 Pam Shriver minutes before entering the Arthur Ashe Stadium for her US Open semifinal, and was asked if she learnt anything from her defeat to Gauff in Cincinnati.
Muchova responded by saying that she could learn a lot from that match before using Rafael Nadal's famous catchphrase "What happened, happened".
"Yea I can learn a lot from that one but yea, it's probably what Rafa would say, 'What happened, happened', and yea, I'm just looking forward to playing tonight," Muchova said.
Karolina Muchova or Coco Gauff will face either Aryna Sabalenka or Madison Keys in the US Open final
The winner of the match between Karolina Muchova and Coco Gauff will take on either second seed Aryna Sabalenka or 17th seed Madison Keys in the US Open final.
Sabalenka is the only woman to not drop a set so far during the women's singles tournament at the New York. She booked her place in the semifinals of the hardcourt Major for the third successive year by defeating Qinwen Zheng 6-1, 6-4. The Belarusian is assured of being the World No. 1 by the end of the tournament due to Iga Swiatek losing in the fourth round.
Madison Keys beat the likes of Jessica Pegula and Liudmila Samsonova to reach the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows, where she ousted Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-1, 6-4 to reach the US Open semifinals of the third time in her career.