Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court.
This week, the ATP and WTA tournaments in Beijing came to a close. One player cemented their return to the top, another said that the tennis balls are unfair, and the Davis Cup changed its rules… again.
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How high can Karolina Muchova go?
She didn’t get the title win she wanted, but the China Open was still a big success for Karolina Muchova — and therefore, for women’s tennis.
The WTA Tour is simply an even more interesting place when Muchova is a factor. There were genuine fears this year that those days were gone, with Muchova recovering from wrist surgery and telling The Athletic that she had been concerned she might never play again.
Reaching the U.S. Open semifinals was huge, but it feels just as significant that she backed up that run by largely easing into the final in Shanghai with few signs of fatigue.
Most impressive was her third straight win over world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the quarters on Friday. She saved set points in the first set and came back from 4-2 down in the decider, playing in her characteristically fearless manner. By rushing the net and…
