Karolina Muchova is through to her first-ever Wimbledon semi-final after a straight-sets victory over Naomi Osaka.

The pair were supposed to face off in Bad Homberg before Osaka's injury, and when they did get the chance to step out on the court against each other, Muchova triumphed 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in one hour and 42 minutes.

Neither player was able to hold serve at the start of the first half, with Osaka, who knocked out world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the last round, twice hitting back to cancel out Muchova's advantage to make it 2-2.

Osaka had the chance to break with the match level at 5-5, but after Muchova defended the point, they went to a tie-break.

The Czech got herself into a strong position at 6-2 but failed to convert her first two set points before eventually getting past her opponent.

Osaka struggled on the return in the second set, though, with Muchova dropping just one point in her first three service games.

And she then found her edge when it mattered most, reeling off three straight games and powering into the semi-final with two straight aces.

Muchova will now face Gauff for a place in the final.

Flying the Czech flag high

Czechia is the nation with the most women's singles semi-finalists at Wimbledon in the 2000s, with Muchova becoming the seventh, one more than the second-best in that span, the United States, with six.

Muchova is also the fourth player competing for Czechia in the Open Era to make the women's singles semi-finals at all four majors after Hana Mandlikova, Jana Novotna and Karolina Pliskova.

She had lost both of her quarter-final matches at All England Club before this year, but she has been strong on grass in 2026, having also gone all the way to the title in Bad Homberg.

Despite a career-best performance at Wimbledon, Osaka will be disappointed, having made some minor mistakes in the closing stages of the match that meant she had not been able to force a decider.

She did save four of the seven break points she faced, and while she converted two of her own, she only managed to force three overall. She may have been able to give herself more, but Muchova, who won 80% of her first-serve points, was not giving her many openings.