MELBOURNE – Gutsy Naomi Osaka saved two match points to outlast Garbine Muguruza in a tense comeback Sunday and reach the Australian Open quarter-finals.
The third seed was on the verge of elimination at 3-5, 15-40 on her serve in the third set before rattling off four points in a row.
She then twice broke the serve of the two-time Grand Slam winner Muguruza to prevail 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 55 minutes of gripping action on an empty Rod Laver Arena, devoid of fans for the second day because of coronavirus restrictions.
“I felt like I was intimidated because she was playing so well,” said Osaka, who hit 40 winners but made 36 unforced errors.
“On the stres…
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