World number 24 Jennifer Brady will be up against the 27th-ranked Karolina Muchova in the semifinal of the 2021 Australian Open on Thursday, February 18, with the match likely to begin at around 11 am local time (12 noon BST or 7 pm Eastern Time previous day). Get the live streaming options of this Jennifer Brady v Karolina Muchova encounter along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Jennifer Brady v Karolina Muchova Head to Head
Their only previous meeting came on the clay courts of the Prague Open of 2019 and it turned out to be a beauty. It was Muchova who came through in three sets, beating Brady in a final set tie-breaker.
Also Read:
Muchova Medical Timeout Mars Solid Win
Muchova was on her way out, having equalled her Grand Slam-best showing of a quarterfinal appearance. Down a set and 0-2 to the world number one Ash Barty, it didn’t look like she was in with too much of a chance in the encounter.
Then came a medical timeout. One that went on for 10 minutes after she burst into tears, and saw her go off the court, even as Barty looked to keep her wit about her.
By the time Muchova had resumed playing, it had become evident her opponent’s momentum was all gone. The Czech player raced off to a 3-2 lead, and then broke Barty to serve for the set at 5-3.
In the third, Muchova struck in the very first game again, and repeated the dose yet again in the seventh before closing out the match after saving three break-points. And while there will be those who believe Muchova gained unfairly from the timeout, the fact she was well within the rules should always be remembered.
Other than the fact that Muchova has shown exemplary form all tournament which includes wins over Jelena Ostapenko, Karolina Pliskova and Elise Mertens before this.
In doing so, Muchova has reached her first ever Grand Slam semifinal and will face an American, who herself is looking for her first ever Grand Slam final.
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Brady Sends Close Friend Home
Americans Brady and Jessica Pegula have played a lot of their tennis together and have been friends for a while now. And both had been in fine fettle coming into their quarterfinal encounter, making this a potentially, evenly-fought battle with Brady holding a slight edge given her experience – she had already made it to the US Open semifinal last year.
Pegula, however, has been playing some of her best tennis all week, prompting experts to consider her to be a potential finalist in this competition. And for a while it did look like she had a good chance too when she broke Brady in the third game of the opening set, before exchanging serves to keep that advantage at 5-4.
Two set-points later, Brady had lost the set, leaving her to turn things around quickly in the Melbourne heat – it had been the kind of weather that had also affected Muchova in the earlier match.
In this encounter, it hit Pegula in the second set, and slowly but surely Brady began to regain control, as she first broke her opponent in the second game and then again in the sixth and eighth games while dropping her own serve once.
Pegula’s last shred of fight came in the first game of the final set where she broke Brady only to lose the next six games in a row, with Brady making the final in an hour and 42 minutes.
Brady’s win came on the heels of four successive straight-set victories over Aliona Bolsova, Madison Brengle, Kaja Juvan and Donna Vekic.
Brady v Muchova Prediction and Tip
Brady is 1/2 to win this one and given her form and the manner in which she even handled the weather, she looks the favourite in more ways than one. Backing her to make her first ever final at a Grand Slam.
Tip: Brady to win: 1/2 (bet365)
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The 2021 Australian Open will be played from February 8 to 21. You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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