There is no way that 22-year-old Karolina Muchova entered this year’s US Open knowing that it would be a career-changing moment. In fact, given her results on the season, it’s safe to assume that she would have doubted her ability to even get into the tournament.
Muchova has had mixed results on the season so far. Her ranking has floated around the edge of the top 200 due to success on the ITF Tour. She did not win a single tournament this year (she did win one back in 2014 and another in 2016), but she did reach three finals. She attempted to qualify for multiple WTA-level tournaments–including both the French Open and Wimbledon–but was unsuccessful. Her only previous appearance in a Tour-level event was in Seoul last year, where she successfully came through qualifying but lost in the first round.
Perhaps we could have seen something special coming from Muchova after her first match in Flushing Meadows. She defeated qualifying #5 seed Vitalia Diatchenko in her first qualifying match, winning both of her sets by a score of 6-1 (she lost the second set in a tiebreaker). She did not drop a set in her next two matches, defeating Jasmine Paolini and Francoise Abanda to get into the Main Draw. Muchova’s first-round match was also impressive, as she earned her first career Tour-level match by beating World #98 Dayana Yastremska in two easy sets.
None of that could have prepared her for what was about to happen in her next match, though.
Round 2: vs Muguruza
Muchova got off to a horrendous start against Muguruza. On by far the biggest stage of her career (the final match of the night on Louis Armstrong Stadium), and facing the best opponent of her career (two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza), Muchova came out very flat. Her groundstrokes were off and her overall play was poor, and Muguruza raced out to a 5-0 lead. Muchova managed to win three games at the end of the set before succumbing, though, and that seemed to steady her somewhat.
Muchova came out blazing in the second set. She went for huge groundstrokes but mixed it up with brilliant overall play. She controlled the court and the rallies. She came to net enough to throw of Muguruza’s game. She played with incredible depth, but also utilized drop shots and short slices incredibly effectively. Muguruza is used to dictating the rallies in her matches, but Muchova took that away from her, and it clearly rattled the Spaniard.
Muchova went up an early break and held a 4-1 lead, but Muguruza managed to earn the break back and hold for 4-4. After the Czech held for 5-4, Muguruza couldn’t hold her serve, and Muchova took the second set.
Muguruza is a champion for a reason, though, and earned an early break in the third set. That wasn’t enough to stop the rising Muchova, however. She took the break back from a clearly rattled Muguruza, and broke again at 5-4 to take the third set and the match, netting her the biggest win of her career.
Muchova a future star
There is little question, after watching this match, that Karolina Muchova will be a future star in the women’s game. Her raw power, tremendous tactics, great court coverage, and ability to take the ball down the line show it. This match will give her incredible confidence moving forward, not to mention over doubling her career prize money.
Reaching the third round of the US Open will net Muchova over $150,000 in prize money. She had barely earned more than $100,000 previously in her career, so this money will give her the ability to travel, stay comfortably, and hire coaches and trainers that she never could have afforded before. Additionally, her ranking will rise to a career high–inside the top 150–which will allow her easier access and higher seedings at better ITF-level (and even weaker WTA-level) tournaments.
This is a career-changing win, and by what she just showed, expect Muchova to make the absolute most of it. She will now face #18 seed Ashleigh Barty in the third round on Friday.
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