Sharada Iyer, Tennis With An Accent
It wasn’t so long ago that Karolina Muchova got her first chance to play in the main draw of a major. Back in 2018, ranked No. 202, the then-22-year-old got through three rounds of qualifying and made the third round of the U.S. Open before exiting Flushing Meadows. She upset Garbine Muguruza in the second round before eventually bowing out to Ashleigh Barty.
Now, in a fortuitous quirk of fate, the 27-year-old Muchova is back at the same venue and competing in the semifinals. This time around, she didn’t have to play three additional rounds in the qualifying draw. Entering as the 10th seed, her opponents didn’t appear to be all that easy on paper, but when it came to executing her game plan, the World No. 9 articulated the result quite well.
This is not the first time Muchova has done so this season.
At the start of 2023, when Muchova began her calendar at the Auckland Open, she was ranked at No. 151. The next few months required her to post substantial results before she could make her way back into the top 50 of the WTA rankings. These results included the quarterfinals in Auckland, Dubai and in Indian Wells. Then came her run at Roland Garros.
In Paris, Muchova’s biggest result might have been her upset win over Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals, after bypassing two match points. However, it was her win against eighth seed Maria Sakkari in the first round that brought attention from the get-go. Each win she notched after that, including against Sabalenka, was akin to Muchova finding a winner from a different part of the court.
Against Iga Swiatek in the Roland Garros final, this versatility enabled Muchova to stand firm on the court instead of keeling over, like the Pole’s other rivals did (and usually do).
Circling back to New York, this versatility has allowed Muchova to thrive in a comfort zone of her own making, one that has taken a slow-winding course.
Between one iteration of the U.S. Open – five years ago – and this new journey occurring now, Muchova’s professional journey has been overwhelming. She has tried to find a way past numerous injuries, some of which were consecutive even if they weren’t concurrent.
Despite such waylaying, it’s still not surprising she is continually making herself comfortable at these stages in the majors.
Since her debut at this level of professional tennis, Muchova has made 19 appearances at Grand Slam tournaments, including this ongoing 2023 event in New York. Only in three years did she get to play all four majors in a single season. In two of these three years, she reached at least the quarterfinals of two majors. This season has been the first time Muchova has reached the semifinals of two majors. In doing so, she has also made noticeable room for herself as part of the sport’s top tier.
As such, the only takeaway to be had from these results of the Czech isn’t whether she belongs where she is currently placed, but if she can do so continually, across weeks and months, with her health holding its side of the bargain. At the moment, 2023 has been quite a cushioning support for leap-of-faith judgements on the sustained thriving of Karolina Muchova’s career.
Tennis with an Accent 