Amanda Anisimova Vs Karolina Muchova, China Open: American Sets Up Jasmine Paolini Quarter-Final Date

Amanda Anisimova battled her way into the China Open quarter-finals, coming from behind to beat Karolina Muchova.

Having struggled to match the Czech's power in the first set, Anisimova rallied to a 1-6 6-2 6-4 victory in just over two hours on Tuesday.

Muchova started on the front foot, winning the first four games of the match, and though Anisimova avoided the bagel, the first set was done in under half an hour.

However, Anisimova fought back in the second set; after Muchova won her first service game, the American won the next five in a row and then forced a decider by converting her fourth set point.

The pair were evenly matched in the third set, but Muchova blinked first, with Anisimova earning the vital break in the penultimate game before closing out the game on her first match point.

She will now face Jasmine Paolini in the quarter-finals, after the Italian held firm to earn a 6-2 7-5 win over Marie Bouskova.

After cruising through the first set, Paolini was made to work to avoid a decider when Bouskova saved two match points in the 10th game of the second set, but the Czech could not take her two chances to break the Italian's serve in the next.

Since the format's introduction in 2009, Paolini is just the second Italian to reach four or more WTA-1000 quarter-finals in a season, along with her current doubles partner, Sara Errani (six, 2013).

Data Debrief: Anisimova gets much-needed comeback

Anisimova has claimed her first comeback win against a WTA top 20 opponent since defeating Karolina Pliskova in San Jose (R16) in 2022.

She had lost each of her 11 such matches after, but ended that streak to improve her record to 2-0 against Muchova.

Since the start of the grass season in June, Anisimova has collected 23 wins, the second-most on tour behind Iga Swiatek's 27 in that span. She is also through to her seventh quarter-final of the year, equalling her career high from 2022.