Lesson of the day: Don't mess with Amanda

Welcome to New York, it's been waitin' for you 🗽 pic.twitter.com/KeU0POv0CN

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2025

When it comes to the two very gifted Czech players, Marketa Vondrousova and Karolina Muchova, fans have to enjoy the good times while they can. Both players have sustained multiple injuries, and--in Vondrousova's case--multiple surgeries (and Muchova had wrist surgery last year). Vondrousova has missed so much tour time because of injury, surgery and rehab that it's nothing short of a wonder that she has still somehow managed to win Wimbledon, become a finalist at the French Open, and win an Olympic silver medal. 

Vondrousova has looked scary-good at the U.S. Open, and she impressively upset both Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina on her way to the quarterfinals. But then something else happened on the way to the quarterfinals: Dealing with an already fragile knee, Vondrousova felt pain during her quarterfinal match warm-up and decided that going forward could aggravate the injury. She withdrew from the U.S. Open, giving her opponent, defending champion and top seed Aryna Sabalenka, a walkover into the semifinals.

Earlier in the day, another very gifted Czech, Barbora Krejcikova, was defeated in straight sets by 4th seed and 2024 runner-up Jessica Pegula. Pegula played superbly, but it was also obvious that Krejckova--whose dramatic eight-match point save the day before became an instant classic--had run out of fuel, as I suspected she might.

When they last met, in the final at Wimbledon, Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek were on the court for less than an hour; Swiatek won her first Wimbledon title after defeating first-time finalist Anisimova 6-0, 6-0. After winning her U.S. Open round of 16 match, Anisimova told an interviewer: “Who would’ve thought we’d meet again so soon? I’m super excited. It’s gonna be a great match--I hope--this time”

Late this afternoon, it looked as though Anisimova had locked her evil twin in a basement in London, as she went after Swiatek from the moment they hit the court. Perhaps she also locked Swiatek's first serve in the basement, too, because Swiatek struggled to find it. The 2nd seed got her first serve in only 50% of the time, and that turned out to be her undoing, given that she won with only 33% of her second serves. Anisimova hit 23 winners, as opposed to Swiatek's 13. Her 6-4, 6-3 victory puts her into the semifinals.

In the evening match, Karolina Muchova faced off against Naomi Osaka, lost the firs set 4-6, and--she sustained an injury. I'm tempted to say "of course she did," though serious tennis fans were undoubtedly thinking it. This time, it was her thigh. She returned to the court after taking a medical time out, but her movement wasn't the same as it had been. The Czech player had already injured her hip in the round of 16, so this injury was undoubtedly an extension of that one. 

Despite her movement issues, Muchova served very well. Against another opponent, that might have been enough to compensate, but Osaka also served at a very high level. Muchova did serve for the second set at 5-4, but was broken at love. The second set went to a tiebreak, which Osaka won, 7-3, and thereby advanced to the semifinals.

The match was well-played and very competitive, despite Muchova's injury (her second round to play well, even while hampered). However, it should be noted that Naomi Osaka played like--Naomi Osaka. The woman who won four hard court majors was on the court tonight, doing everything--serving, hitting, moving, reading the court--like the superb athlete that she is.

Here is the semifinal draw:

Aryna Sabalenka (1) v. Jessica Pegula (4)
Naomi Osaka (23) v. Amanda Anisimova (8) 

In the meantime, the doubles semifinals were completed. Top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend defeated 4th seeds Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens 6-3, 7-6(3), and 3rd seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe defeated 2nd seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 6-3.

And defending champion Diede de Groot (from 2023--there were no wheelchair events last year), unseeded at this event, defeated Lucy Shuker 6-3, 6-0 in her first round.