Looking to hit a WTA-high 15th win in 2025, in-form Clara Tauson aims to outwit Karolina Muchova in Friday's Dubai Tennis Championships semi-final.
The Danish player notched her 14th win to beat Linda Noskova in Thursday's last-eight match, setting up a last-four meeting with her higher-ranked Czech opponent, who secured a 10th consecutive quarter-final victory by getting the better of Sorana Cirstea in straight sets.
Match preview
Dubai main-draw debutant Tauson is one victory away from reaching the title match at the WTA 1000 event to continue a strong week at the Middle East tournament.
The Dane has secured impressive wins this week, taking out 17-time singles champion Elina Svitolina in the second round, top seed Aryna Sabalenka in round three and Noskova in the quarter-final to hit 14 wins this season.
Despite defeating Sabalenka earlier this week, Tauson's triumphs over Svitolina and Noskova were arguably more satisfying, given the arduous two-hour 41-minute battle with the Ukrainian in the second round and success over Thursday's Czech opponent, who eliminated two seeded opponents — Diana Shnaider and Jessica Pegula — en route to facing the Danish player.
Getting the better of Noskova means the three-time WTA champion emulates Caroline Wozniacki in being the second woman since 2009 to advance to a 1000 semi-final, and success on Friday will be Tauson's 15th this season, taking her ahead of Iga Swiatek and Australian Open champion Madison Keys.
The 22-year-old enters her first WTA 1000 semi-final on a 14-3 win-loss record this season, which she aims to improve at Muchova's expense.
The 28-year-old Czech player was possibly the beneficiary of facing an opponent who had played nearly two hours against Alycia Parks and three hours against Emma Navarro on Wednesday following a rain-interrupted Tuesday.
Regardless, Muchova's performance was intermittently error-strewn, while she appeared to be suffering physical problems on the court during her quarter-final.
Still, the former world No. 8 improved to 7-1 in Dubai, having not lost any match at the Middle East event after stepping onto court — she withdrew before a quarter-final match with Pegula two years ago — meaning Katerina Siniakova was the last opponent to get the better of the world No. 17 and 14th seed in Dubai — a round of 32 match in 2020.
The omens appear positive for the 28-year-old, whose previous WTA 1000 semi-final appearances were in Cincinnati in 2023 and Beijing last year, beating Sabalenka and Qinwen Zheng respectively.
However, Muchova enters Friday's encounter on a three-match losing run in last-four matches, most recently losing to eventual Linz champion Ekaterina Alexandrova at the start of February, coming after last year's retirement in Ningbo against Mirra Andreeva and this season's United Cup straight-set disappointment against Coco Gauff.
Tournament so far
Clara Tauson:
First round: vs. Rebecca Sramkova 7-6[7] 6-0
Second round: vs. Elina Svitolina 7-6[5] 3-6 7-6[4]
Third round: vs. Aryna Sabalenka 6-3 6-2
Quarter-final: vs. Linda Noskova 7-6[4] 6-4
Karolina Muchova:
First round: vs. Suzan Lamens 6-2 6-2
Second round: vs. Emma Raducanu 7-6[6] 6-4
Third round: vs. McCartney Kessler 6-3 1-6 7-6[5]
Quarter-final: vs. Sorana Cirstea 6-2 7-5
Head To Head
Both women are facing off for the first time on tour, with Friday's victor taking a 1-0 lead in their head-to-head and advancing to Saturday's final against Elena Rybakina or Andreeva.
In her maiden appearance in the main draw, Tauson is 4-0 heading into the last four, and the Danish player could notch a fifth straight victory in Dubai to improve her 4-1 career semi-final record; however, the 22-year-old's sole loss was her most recent last-four match against Dayana Yastremska in Linz.
Muchova is 2-0 in WTA 1000 semi-finals, but the Czech player has lost her recent three on the women's tour and four of the last five.
We say: Tauson to win in two sets
It is hard to look beyond Tauson in Friday's second semi-final, with the player backed to continue an impressive 13-2 record against players outside the top 10 this season and record a 15th victory overall in 2025.
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