Karolina Muchova, a 26-year-old tennis player from the Czech Republic, will be facing Iga Swiatek, the world No. 1, in the French Open final. Muchova made it into the finals after beating Aryna Sabelenka from Belarus. In that game, she made a crisp forehand down the line, causing her to win 20 of the final 24 points, allowing her to compete in the finals.
“[She’s] a little bit out of [our] radar, but she always plays great tennis,” Sabalenka said. “It’s a little bit tricky to build a point against her.”
Muchova made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2019 and the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2021. Her best performance was when she ranked 19th place in the world in 2021. But due to back and knee injuries, her ranking plummeted to 235th.
Even though she was struggling with her injuries, she kept grinding through small tournaments. She entered the French Open ranked 43rd, but now she is in the finals competing against the world’s number one, Iga Swiatek.
Swiatek is a 22-year-old from Poland who hasn’t dropped a single set so far at this French Open. Some of her sets end up finishing with scores of 6-0 (a bagel) or 6-1 (a breadstick).
But during her last match, the scores were close: 26 to 25. That match was against Haddad Maia, a lefty from Brazil.
Swiatek and Muchova have only played once, four years ago. Muchova won all three sets during that match, but Swiatek was ranked 95th then. These two players have such different styles and yet are so evenly matched that this game is sure to be an interesting one to watch.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/sports/tennis/french-open-women-swiatek-muchova.html
“[She’s] a little bit out of [our] radar, but she always plays great tennis,” Sabalenka said. “It’s a little bit tricky to build a point against her.”
Muchova made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2019 and the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2021. Her best performance was when she ranked 19th place in the world in 2021. But due to back and knee injuries, her ranking plummeted to 235th.
Even though she was struggling with her injuries, she kept grinding through small tournaments. She entered the French Open ranked 43rd, but now she is in the finals competing against the world’s number one, Iga Swiatek.
Swiatek is a 22-year-old from Poland who hasn’t dropped a single set so far at this French Open. Some of her sets end up finishing with scores of 6-0 (a bagel) or 6-1 (a breadstick).
But during her last match, the scores were close: 26 to 25. That match was against Haddad Maia, a lefty from Brazil.
Swiatek and Muchova have only played once, four years ago. Muchova won all three sets during that match, but Swiatek was ranked 95th then. These two players have such different styles and yet are so evenly matched that this game is sure to be an interesting one to watch.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/sports/tennis/french-open-women-swiatek-muchova.html
