Karolina Muchova beats 2023 Linz champ Anastasia Potapova

Karolina Muchova edged into her first WTA semifinal of the season on Friday, overcoming a tough challenge from Anastasia Potapova, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz.

The top seed shook off a second-set hiccup and injury timeout to dethrone the 2023 champion in two hours and nine minutes on Center Court.

Potapova won her second career title on Linz two years ago, and has continued to thrive on the indoor hard courts despite the event upgrading to a WTA 500 last year, reaching the semifinals.

Into the last eight, she faced her biggest test of the week in Muchova, a former Roland Garros runner-up who ended 2024 with a run to a second straight US Open semifinal. Muchova and Potapova last faced off at that tournament in Flushing Meadows last summer, the Czech winning in straight sets.

Potapova, who made headlines with an in-depth interview discussing her divorce from fellow pro Alexander Shevchenko, endured a slow start before getting into the match towards the end of the first set.

Fighting to get the match back on serve, Potapova ultimately failed to convert four break points as Muchova frequently crashed the net en route to a one-set lead.

Potapova channeled her late momentum into a strong second-set performance, nabbing the lone break to tie the match up at one set apiece.

Though Muchova took a brief timeout between sets to address an injured thigh, she rediscovered her form from the first set in time to take a 5-3 lead, forcing Potapova back on defense.

The former champion made a brave last stand in the last game with more break-point chances, but Muchova saved three in total before ending the contest on her second match point.

Muchova, who lost a tough Australian Open second round to former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka, will next face either No. 4 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova or resurgent qualifier Petra Martic, a former world No. 14.

Earlier in the afternoon, Danish youngster Clara Tauson kept up her blistering start to the season with a straight-set victory over Anna Blinkova, setting up a hard-hitting semifinal with No. 5 seed Dayana Yastremska. A 2024 Australian Open semifinalist, Yastremska dropped a 6-0 second set on former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari to reach the final four.