5 unknown facts about Karolina Muchova, the daughter of former Czech footballer who has taken the US Open 2024 by storm
Karolina Muchova is making waves with her crafty, all-court brand of tennis at the ongoing 2024 US Open. The talented 28-year-old has reached the semifinals of the prestigious hardcourt Major for the second year in a row and is set to lock horns against home favorite Jessica Pegula for a place in the final.
Muchova, the World No. 52, was ranked as high as No. 8 on the WTA Tour in September last year, during which she reached the French Open final and the semifinals of the US Open. However, the end of last season and the beginning of the ongoing one saw Muchova spend an extended spell on the sidelines with a wrist injury, which needed surgical intervention.
The Czech, despite her consistently electric presence on the WTA Tour since making her debut in 2017, remains an enigmatic figure. However, we have listed some of the lesser-known facts about Karolina Muchova here, to help you get more familiar with the former World No. 8.
Trending1. Karolina Muchova's decision to pursue tennis stemmed from the close proximity of courts to her childhood home
Karolina Muchova's father, Josef, used to be a professional soccer player who plied his trade for his hometown club SK Sigma Olomouc in the Czech First League in his prime. As a result, Muchova was introduced to several sports at an early age, including tennis. Her introduction to tennis was seamless due to the courts being located very close to her childhood home in the Czech city of Olomouc.
In a 2021 interview with WTA Insider, Muchova revealed that growing up, she was good at both tennis and handball, but decided to stick to tennis when she was 12 due to lack of time to commit to both sports.
"My father (Josef Muchov) played professional soccer in the first league in Czech. My brother and I did many sports when we were kids. I had courts 50 meters from where we lived. So I just picked up the racket and I played pretty good so I stuck with that. I was doing more sports, but then when I was about 12, I couldn't make it anymore with the time and I chose tennis over handball," Muchova told WTA Insider in 2021.
2. Roger Federer is Karolina Muchova's tennis idol
Karolina Muchova has been lauded for her ability to play a variety of styles, making her one of the most unpredictable players on the WTA Tour. The Czech frequently combines slices and drop shots to devastating effect, and a pivotal reason for that is her love for the legendary Roger Federer growing up.
Last year, Muchova told The Guardian that playing attacking and crafty tennis is something that came naturally to her. However, she admitted that watching the Swiss in particular helped her polish her skills.
"Then when I was older, I looked up to Roger [Federer] and players like this, playing this aggressive, attacking style and I saw myself in that a little bit, in the way I would like to play the game. That helped and I tried to play some similar shots and I just enjoy the game to play it this way," Muchova told The Guardian in 2023.
Muchova laid bare her admiration for Federer at this year's US Open as well, during an on-court interview with Nick Kyrgios.
3. Karolina Muchova caused one of the upsets of the US Open 2018, which marked her Grand Slam debut
Muchova's main draw debut at a Major came at the 2018 US Open. The Czech cemented her place in the main draw after winning all her qualifying matches. In the first round, Muchova came out on top against Dayana Yastremska, which helped her set up a clash against Garbine Muguruza, a two-time Major champion and former World No. 1, who was the No. 12 seed at the 2018 edition of the hardcourt Major.
Remarkably, Muchova was unfazed against the Spanish-Venezuelan, despite losing the first set. The Czech went on to produce an all-court masterclass, leaving the former World No. 1 scrambling for solutions. Ultimately, Muchova, the World No. 202 at the time, stunned Muguruza 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, taking only an hour and 27 minutes to wrap up the match.
However, Muchova's 2018 US Open campaign would end in the next round, with a loss to another crafty player Ashleigh Barty.
4. Karolina Muchova can play the guitar
Muchova is active on social media, with her X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram profiles having 19.6k and 168k followers respectively at the time of writing. Over the years, the Czech has posted a handful of videos featuring herself playing the guitar and singing.
During a press conference amid her run to the 2023 French Open final, Muchova told reporters that although her guitar proficiency is limited, she can still play the vast majority of songs that she likes.
"I can play a few chords. With guitar, if you know, I don’t know, five to seven chords you can play almost all the songs. So I for sure enjoy it. Yeah, it’s a hobby for me," Muchova said.
5. With her respective runs to the Wimbledon 2021 quarterfinals and French Open 2023 final, Karolina Muchova wrote her name in tennis history
Muchova's Wimbledon Championships debut came in 2019, and it was a successful one as she reached the quarterfinals before losing to Elina Svitolina. It marked the first time since Li Na in 2006 that a player had reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals on her debut.
The Czech's second SW19 outing came two years later, and once again, she made it to the quarterfinals. Here, she was ousted by Angelique Kerber. Nonetheless, she became only the third woman in the history of the prestigious grasscourt Major to have reached the quarterfinals on both of her first two appearances.
At the 2023 French Open, Muchova came the closest she has so far to winning a Major. However, World No. 1 Iga Swiatek dashed the Czech's hopes at the last hurdle. Muchova became the fourth-lowest-ranked player to reach the women's singles final in Roland Garros history. Additionally, she was the Open Era's fifth Czech player to make it to the French Open final.
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