
ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM, N.Y. — The first time the crowd fell silent was the second time Naomi Osaka had a chance to break Karolina Muchova’s serve.
As she had done all match, Muchova shut the door. So Osaka broke it down, in a sequence of shoe-squeaking footwork and topspin, pulling the Czech, one of the hardest players to outmaneuver on the tour, to places on Arthur Ashe Stadium she didn’t want to be.
Muchova, a finalist in 2023, was unruffled. She calmly restored the order that she had instilled for the previous 85 minutes, immediately breaking Osaka back. Fifteen minutes, two...