Twelve months ago in New York, Karolina Muchova was riding high, completing her finest season as a professional. The 28-year-old Czech had reached the semifinals at both the US Open and Roland Garros, defeating players including No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, and reached a career-high WTA ranking of No. 8.
Then disaster struck—again.
She wouldn’t play another tournament for nine months, sidelined by a wrist injury that required surgery on her right-wrist tendon in February. “At that moment, I'm like, 'OK, I don't think I'll ever hold a racquet,” she said earlier this year. “I don't know if I'll ever hold a fork and eat. It [the wrist] was really, really weak."
It was yet another physical pitfall for one of the tour’s most talented players. In 2022, she faced a maddening series of back, abdominal and ankle injuries.
Muchova’s difficulties staying healthy have plagued a player who is perhaps the most preternaturally gifted on the women’s tour. Muchova owns a varied repertoire unlike any other woman, one that proves uncomfortable to even the game’s best, who are more accustomed to feeding off powerful, mostly flat groundstrokes.
Thursday night, Muchova, now ranked outside the Top 50, was back in Arthur Ashe Stadium, playing just her fifth tournament and 13th match since returning to play after successful rehab, and she looked like she’d never left the game. The Czech toppled three-time major winner Naomi Osaka, and her all-court game was on vivid display.
In the first set, Muchova pulled off an acrobatic, lunging backhand volley, a stab that produced a delicate, dying drop shot that Osaka had no hopes of reaching. Nick Kyrgios, broadcasting courtside for ESPN, exclaimed: “That’s insane athleticism! She is 100 percent the best volleyer on the WTA, no question.”
In the booth, Chris Evert said, “I mean this in the best possible way: She plays like a guy.”
I’m glad she said that, and not me. But it’s not untrue. Muchova idolized Roger Federer growing up, and it shows. “I watched all the guys doing all these things, and I really liked it, so I tried to put it into my game, too.”
The Czech plays controlled, offensive tennis. She is the rare woman who can pull off serve and volley. Muchova frequently charges the net behind service returns and hits a wicked one-handed backhand slice. She has superb feel and instincts at the net, which produces deftly angled touch volleys. The Czech basically has every shot in the book.
Muchova comes off as a true jock, but a genial, almost understated one. She doesn’t flaunt her gifts; it’s almost as if they’re meant to be appreciated by true connoisseurs of the game.
One of the best examples of her pure athletic ability occurred in her opening-round match here against the American Katie Volynets (best name in the biz, by the way). Racing laterally, deep in the court, Muchova overran an overhead that Volynets had blasted down the middle of the court. The Czech leaped in the air, instinctively stuck out her racket behind her back, at the peak of her jump, and somehow crafted a lob that landed on the baseline. Muchova then ventured forward to crunch an overhead of her own.
But Muchova didn’t bow or play to the crowd. A wry smile was her only reaction.
Muchova is equally effective on any surface, and she is without doubt a big-match player. Six of her 11 wins over Top-10 players have come in majors. Since 2020, she holds a combined winning percentage of 68.5% (63-29) at Grand Slam and WTA-1000 events. She reached the final at Roland Garros in 2023, the semifinals at the US Open and Australian Open and the quarterfinals twice at Wimbledon. In 2021, she beat both No. 1 Ash Barty and No. 2 Osaka. Her win Thursday night over Osaka was her fifth over a former WTA No. 1 at a major.
Clearly, Muchova’s creative, unusual, all-court game is a disrupter on the women’s tour.
Given all that talent, it’s a surprise, then, that the 28-year-old has won just one WTA title. One has to believe that’s due to the litany of injuries that have besieged her.
The wrist surgery she underwent earlier this year is serious stuff for a tennis player. It essentially ended the careers of both Juan Martín del Potro and Dominic Thiem on the men’s side.
“Honestly, for me the biggest win this year is that I could play again,” Muchova told Kyrgios on court after defeating Osaka. “I’m really grateful that I’m able to play tennis. This is just the cherry on top, to be here again in this stadium.”
Muchova’s desire is clear. As she told the WTA Insider Podcast earlier this summer: "I hope I'll bring the good tennis again and that I can, yeah, make some mess at the top again."
