Karolína Muchová

Karolína Muchová (; born 21 August 1996) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8, achieved on 11 September 2023. Muchová has won one WTA Tour title at the 2019 Korea Open, and contested a major final at the 2023 French Open.

Muchová turned professional in 2013. She first rose to prominence at the 2018 US Open, defeating world No. 12 and two-time major champion, Garbiñe Muguruza, in the second round. The following year, Muchová reached her first major quarterfinal at Wimbledon by upsetting world No. 3, Karolína Plíšková. At the 2021 Australian Open, she reached the semifinals by defeating world No. 1 and home favorite, Ashleigh Barty. At the 2023 French Open, she reached her first major final by defeating world No. 2, Aryna Sabalenka, in a hard-fought semifinal, finishing runner-up to defending champion and world No. 1, Iga Świątek, in a close three-set final.

Early life

Karolína Muchová was born in August 1996 in Olomouc. Her father is former Czech footballer Josef Mucha. He introduced her to tennis at the age of seven. She also has a brother, with whom she did many sports when they were kids. Since there were tennis courts near her home, she decided to pick up a tennis racket, and then when she was about 12, she chose tennis over handball. In 2019, she moved to Prague to train at the I. ČLTK Prague. She stated that her tennis idol growing up was Roger Federer. She struggled with a lot of injuries during her junior years.

Career

2013–2018: Breakthrough

Muchová began playing on the ITF Women's Circuit in October 2013 at the age of 17. Her first tournament was a $10k event in Dubrovnik, where she reached the second round. In July the following year, she won her first ITF title in Michalovce, Slovakia. She then started to produce low-performances until March 2016, when she won her second singles title at Sharm El Sheikh, and two weeks later another event at the same venue. In July 2017, she reached the final of the $75k ITS Cup in Olomouc, losing there to her countrymate Markéta Vondroušová. She then made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the 2017 Korea Open after defeating two low-ranked players, and then lost in the first round of the main draw to Priscilla Hon. She made her main-draw debut at a major event at the 2018 US Open winning three qualifying matches. After winning her opening-match against Dayana Yastremska, Muchová upset two-time Grand Slam champion and 12th seed Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round to score her first top-20 victory, advancing to the third round of the tournament. In the third round, she lost to Ashleigh Barty.

2019: First career title, Wimbledon QF, top 30 debut

She started the 2019 season with a first-round loss at the Australian Open, losing to Karolína Plíšková. She then at the Premier-level Qatar Ladies Open made her first WTA Tour quarterfinal by defeating Samantha Stosur and Hsieh Su-wei, but then lost to seed No. 4, Elina Svitolina. At the Miami Open, she debuted at the Premier Mandatory level-tournaments but was eliminated in the second round by Angelique Kerber. Her first Tour-level final came at the Prague Open where she lost to Jil Teichmann. Her performance was enough to take her for the first time into the top 100 of the WTA rankings. In June, she beat Anett Kontaveit to reach the second round of the French Open, where she lost to Irina-Camelia Begu. In July, she reached quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships, beating third seed Karolína Plíšková 13–11 in the final set of their fourth-round match, which lasted over three hours. She became the first player to reach the quarterfinals at her Wimbledon debut since Li Na in 2006. In the quarterfinal, Muchová lost to Elina Svitolina. She followed this with a quarterfinal at the Bronx Open and third round of the US Open, where she was beaten by Serena Williams. Her maiden WTA Tour title came at 2019 Korea Open, where she defeated Magda Linette in the final. Muchová then continued with good results, reaching semifinals of the Premier-level Kremlin Cup, in which she lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. At the end of the year, she debuted at the WTA Elite Trophy with success in her round-robin group, defeating two Americans, Sofia Kenin and Alison Riske, but later lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinal. She finished the year as world No. 21.

2020: Mixed results, US Open fourth round

In 2020, Muchová produced rather mixed results. She reached the second round of the Australian Open for the first time in her career but lost to CiCi Bellis in straight sets. She then played for the first time at the Qatar Ladies Open, where she also recorded her first win over Magda Linette, but lost to seventh seed Kiki Bertens in round two. After the six month suspension of the WTA Tour due to COVID-19 pandemic, she first played at the Cincinnati Open where she beat qualifier Ann Li in the first round, before she lost to Naomi Osaka. Her best performance of the season came at the US Open, when she beat Venus Williams, Anna Kalinskaya, and Sorana Cîrstea to reach her first round of 16 there before she lost to Victoria Azarenka. By the end of the year, Muchová reached only the first round of the French Open and the second round of the Ostrava Open. However, she spent the whole year inside the top 30.

2021: Australian Open SF, top 20

Muchová reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, beating world No. 1, Ashleigh Barty, but lost to Jennifer Brady in three sets.

After reaching the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open by defeating second seed Naomi Osaka and 16th seed Maria Sakkari, her first showing at the WTA 1000 level, Muchová reached a career-high of world No. 19 on 17 May 2021. Two weeks later in June, her good form continued when she got to the third round of the French Open, also for the first time in her career.

Seeded 19th at Wimbledon, she reached the quarterfinals for the second time, defeating 30th seed Paula Badosa. Muchová was only the third woman in Wimbledon history to reach the quarterfinals on her first two appearances at the event (2019 and 2021).

The 22nd seeded Muchová was ousted in the first round of the US Open by Sara Sorribes Tormo, in straight sets.

2022: Injuries, French Open 3rd round, out of top 100

She didn't play at the Australian Open because of an injury. As a result, she dropped out of the top 50.

Muchová came back in Miami as an unseeded player. In the first round, she defeated fellow Czech Tereza Martincová in two tie-break sets. Then, she defeated 18th seed Leylah Fernandez, before withdrawing from her third-round match against Naomi Osaka.

In Madrid, using protected ranking, she defeated Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen, before losing to 11th seed Belinda Bencic.

Ranked No. 81 at the French Open, her form improved substantially as she was able to reach the third round, defeating fourth seed and 2021 semifinalist Maria Sakkari in the second, in straight sets, for the biggest win of her career and her fourth top-5 win. She retired in her next match against Amanda Anisimova due to multiple injuries.

Despite these improvements in form, she finished the year outside of the top 100, at world No. 149.

2023: French Open final, world No. 8

Using her protected ranking, she returned to the Australian Open and made the second round, as well as the quarterfinals at Dubai, defeating eighth seed Belinda Bencic, for her seventh top 10 career win, but withdrew from her quarterfinal match, returning to the top 100 on 27 February 2023, after raising 35 positions.

Still using protected ranking in Indian Wells, she reached the fourth round by defeating Yulia Putintseva, 14th seed Victoria Azarenka and 23rd seed Martina Trevisan. Next, she beat Markéta Vondroušová to reach her third quarterfinal of the season and the second on the WTA 1000-level since Dubai. As a result, she gained 20 positions in the singles rankings.

Ranked No. 43 at the French Open, she defeated world No. 8, Maria Sakkari, in the first round, her second consecutive win at this major against the Greek and eighth top-10 win overall. She beat Nadia Podoroska, Irina-Camelia Begu and lucky loser Elina Avanesyan to reach the quarterfinals for the first time, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach her second Grand Slam tournament semifinal, and her first at Roland Garros. She upset world No. 2, Aryna Sabalenka, in a three-sets match, lasting over three hours, saving a match point and recovering from 2–5 down in the final set to reach her first Grand Slam final, as the fourth-lowest-ranked women’s finalist in the French Open history. She became the fifth Czech player to reach the final at Roland Garros in the Open Era. In the final, she lost to world No. 1 and defending champion, Iga Świątek, in three sets. As a result, she reached a new career-high ranking of No. 16, on 12 June 2023.

In Cincinnati, she reached the final of a WTA 1000 for the first time, losing to sixth seed Coco Gauff in two sets but she recorded a career-high ranking of No. 10.
At the US Open, Muchová again hit a good form by reaching the semifinals of the tournament for the first time in her career and second at a major in the season. She won her opening three rounds in straight sets, defeating Storm Hunter, Magdalena Fręch, and Taylor Townsend, before getting past Wang Xinyu in three sets in the fourth round. She then quickly dispatched Sorana Cîrstea in her quarterfinal match, only losing three games. In the semifinals, she lost her second match to Coco Gauff in a month, falling in two sets in what would ultimately be her last match of the season. Despite the loss, Muchová reached a career-high ranking of world No. 8 on 11 September 2023.

Muchová qualified for the end-of-season WTA Finals for the first time, but was forced to withdraw from the tournament less than a week before it began due to a right wrist injury she suffered at the US Open.

2024: Wrist surgery, US Open semifinal

Muchová withdrew from the Australian Open and in February, underwent surgery which made her skip the Middle Eastern swing and the USA Sunshine Double tournaments extending her hiatus.

She made her return to the WTA Tour in June at the Eastbourne International, where she recorded her first win against Magda Linette. However, after some slight stiffness in her wrist she withdrew from the next round. At Wimbledon, she lost in the first round to Paula Badosa in straight sets.

In Palermo, Muchová entered as a wildcard and defeated Irina-Camelia Begu in the last four to reach her first final since August 2023. In the final, she lost in three sets to defending champion Zheng Qinwen.

At the US Open, Muchová reached the semifinals stage of the tournament for the second consecutive year, without dropping a set, defeating Katie Volynets, Naomi Osaka, Anastasia Potapova, fifth seed Jasmine Paolini and 22nd seed Beatriz Haddad Maia. She lost in the last four to sixth seed Jessica Pegula, in three sets.

At the China Open, she reached her sixth WTA Tour final defeating Anna Blinkova, 30th seed Yuan Yue, Jaqueline Cristian, Cristina Bucșa, top seed and world No. 2, Aryna Sabalenka and fifth seed Zheng Qinwen. In the final, she lost to Coco Gauff in straight sets.

Muchová continued her good form at the Ningbo Open, overcoming qualifier Olivia Gadecki, Jacqeline Cristian and seventh seed Anna Kalinskaya to reach the semifinals, where she retired due to injury, after losing the first set to Mirra Andreeva.

2025: Linz, Dubai semifinals, Czech No. 1

As top seed at the Linz Open, Muchová received a bye in the first round and then defeated qualifier Sara Sorribes Tormo and sixth seed Anastasia Potapova to make it through to the semifinals, where she lost to fourth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.

At the Dubai Championships she defeated Suzan Lamens, Emma Raducanu, McCartney Kessler and Sorana Cirstea, winning her ninth straight tour-level quarterfinal (excluding her 2024 Easbourne walkover), to reach her second semifinal of the season. With the win Muchová won her last 10 quarterfinals she played (including United Cup), dating back to Indian Wells 2023. She lost in the last four to Clara Tauson. Muchová became the Czech number one player taking over Barbora Krejčíková in the rankings.

Playing style and coaching

Muchová is an aggressive all-court player, possessing an intelligent game with exceptional variety. She has powerful groundstrokes from both wings, using both her forehand and backhand to hit winners from any position on the court. She has been praised for her ability to incorporate softer shots, such as drop shots, lobs, and sliced backhands, into her game, constantly breaking up the pace of baseline rallies, and being able to hit winners with these typically defensive shots. She possesses a strong serve, with her first serve peaking at and averaging , allowing her to serve aces frequently; she also possesses a second serve that, despite averaging , possesses a high amount of topspin, meaning that it can be deployed effectively without being attacked by aggressive players. Muchová is also proficient at defending her second serve. Her footwork, speed, and anticipation allow her to be one of the strongest return players on the WTA Tour. As a result of her exemplary fitness, she is capable of sustaining long rallies, and is an effective counterpuncher, extending rallies until she can create an opportunity to hit a winner. Due to her doubles experience, Muchová is a strong net player, and is one of the strongest volleyers on tour, frequently approaching the net to finish off points. Throughout 2019, her breakout season, she was praised for her style of play by Mats Wilander, who stated that she could "achieve great things". With her on-court demeanour, fluid style, grace, and variety, she has been compared by some commentators to Justine Henin and Roger Federer.

Muchová has had several coaches in her career: Emil Miške (2017–2019, Apr 2023–), David Kotyza (2020–Aug 2022), Jan Blecha (Sep 2022–Apr 2023), and Kirsten Flipkens (2023–).

Endorsements

Muchová is sponsored by Adidas for her attire and by Head for her rackets.

Career statistics

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 1 (runner-up)

Olympic medal matches

Doubles: 1 (4th place)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Muchova, Karolina
1996 births
Living people
Czech female tennis players
Sportspeople from Olomouc
Tennis players from the Olomouc Region
21st-century Czech sportswomen
Tennis players at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Olympic tennis players for the Czech Republic