(Provided by Tennis World USA)
“This was so close and yet so far…” Karolina Muchova proclaimed after her defeat of 2-6, 7-5, 4-6 by Iga Swiatek at the Roland Garros final. The Czech was already amazed to have come into the second Grand Slam of the season ranked no.
43. This was the first time in her career to have ever appeared in a Slam final when years ago doctors said she may never play the game again due to injuries. Muchova had gone through six rounds of the clay tournament with three, never dropping a set.
The Czech picked up her stamina and tactics to demonstrate a wide range of shot variations. The rallying game was not her forte and she mixed and matched her shots, her strategies becoming more difficult for competitors to break.
It was her journey to the semifinals that told her how strong she could be when she battled with Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian never dropped a set through to the semifinals until playing Muchova. It was over three hours and two tiebreaks later that blended Karolina into a one-woman winning component.
“She grabbed that match,” Sports Illustrated exec Jon Wertheim commented. Each round proved to Karolina that this was the environment she was becoming…
