No. 5 seed Belinda Bencic pulled off some heroics to edge out eighth-seeded Karolina Muchova in the Tokyo quarterfinal as the Swiss tennis star came back from a set down and even saved a match point en route to sealing a 3-6 7-5 7-5 win in three hours and eight minutes of play.
Muchova, who won her opening two matches in Tokyo in straight sets, also made a strong start to her quarterfinal clash and collected the first set with two breaks. The Czech tennis star also went up by an early break in the second set. Unfortunately for the 2023 French Open finalist, she also rolled her ankle and required medical treatment.
Despite the injury, Muchova still went on to open a 5-3 second-set lead and put herself in a great position to close out the match. However, Bencic refused to quit as she stunningly responded with back-to-back breaks and took the next four games to overturn the deficit and force a decider.
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Bencic won a thriller third set to complete her comeback
The decider was a rollercoaster. Firstly, Bencic went 3-0 up. Then, Muchova stormed back to take a 5-4 lead and had a chance to serve out for the match. With the Czech serving for the match, the Swiss saved a match point to level the set to five games apiece - then held to her serve for a 6-5 lead - before breaking the 2023 French Open finalist in the 12th game to complete her impressive comeback.
Bencic plays against Sofia Kenin in the Tokyo semifinal.
