Karolina Muchova dismantled Jasmine Paolini in straight sets to help the Czech Republic beat Italy on Friday and set up a United Cup semi-final against the United States. Kazakhstan play last year's runners-up Poland, led by women's wo
AFP | Parth
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Karolina Muchova dismantled Jasmine Paolini in straight sets to help the Czech Republic beat Italy on Friday and set up a United Cup semi-final against the United States.
Kazakhstan play last year’s runners-up Poland, led by women’s world number two Iga Swiatek, in Saturday’s other semi-final in Sydney.
Muchova, who suffered a career-threatening wrist injury and missed 10 months of tennis before returning last summer, made her case to be taken seriously at the upcoming Australian Open.
The 28-year-old, ranked 22 in the world to Paolini’s four, defeated the Italian 6-2, 6-2 to give the Czechs one foot in the last four.
A gripping fourth game of the second set lasted more than 10 minutes and was pivotal as Muchova finally held serve, before breaking her opponent to love for 4-1.
Muchova now boasts a 5-0 record over Paolini.
“I really wanted to bring a point to the team so I was trying to stay focused,” Muchova said.
“Jasmine is an unbelievable player. It was a really tough match. I knew I had to go until the end.”
