Roland-Garros 2023 – Ladies’ singles – Semi-final | Ode to Karolina Muchova

US Open 2018, in the cabin in New York with Marion Bartoli. While commenting on my match, I watch with a discreet but interested eye the match in the second round between Garbiñe Muguruza – one of my favorite players – and the Czech Karolina Muchova, 22, 202nd in the world and more or less unknown to the battalion. The latter came out of qualifying before passing for the first time a round in a major Grand Slam table.

Sometimes a simple name is enough, if not to like a player or a player, at least to be interested in it. Question of sound. It had already done that to me a few decades ago with Carlos Moya. And when I put a face, a look and a game to the name, my intuition was confirmed and the Spaniard became my favorite player of this generation.

Wacky and subjective? No doubt, but it is important, the pleasure of the ear. For example, it doesn’t work with Akgul Amanmuradova. But Muchova, pronounced the French way, is pleasant, isn’t it? Mu-cho-va. “Words that sound funny in the mouth, like tintinnabule or duffel“, said Robert Lamoureux in his poem Last of the class. Muchova will also appeal to fans of Boris Vian, the inventor of the pianocktail, the cormarin or the Vercoquin character…

As written above, the name attracts, the game confirms. And what strikes me from the first points that take place on the screen is the vintage and damn varied side of the style proposed by the native of Olomouc (quite Vian-esque also this name, right?). An efficient and varied serve, a lot of backhand slices, technical elegance, numerous net climbs, sometimes even chaining behind the serve, Muchova plays paradoxical tennis, both from another age but terribly modern in its aptitude. to destabilize and disrupt adversaries. And that evening she achieved the biggest performance of a career still in its infancy by eliminating the twelfth player in the world and double Grand Slam champion.

In love with this refreshing game, here I am decked out with a second Czech as a favorite alongside Petra Kvitova, but in diametrically opposed tennis. And the results follow: quarter-finals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2019, a first Grand Slam semi-final in Melbourne in 2021 and then a quarter-final again on the London lawn. Unfortunately, the physique does not always follow and Muchova regularly finds herself on the flank. These are in particular six months of absence after the US Open 2021 due to an abdominal injury then the bad luck at Roland-Garros last year where she injured her ankle during her 3rd round against Amanda Anisimova. She will only play around ten tournaments in 2022. 19th in 2021, she finished last season in 149th place in the world rankings and is somewhat forgotten.

Antithesis of Sabalenka

Back on the front of the stage with quarters in Dubai and Indian Wells then an eighth in Rome, the Czech therefore finds herself for the second time in the last four of a Major on a surface which is far from being the one where she feels better. She will approach it physically fresher than the previous one, having chained a few victories in two sets, an important element. And faced with the devastating power of Aryna Sabalenka, she will have to use her weapons more delicately than ever to stem the Belarusian furia.

Nothing new for the one who will equal at least the best ranking of her career at the end of the fortnight. “This style of play has always been in me. If you watch videos of me when I was a kid, you’ll see me at the net or doing drop shots.“, says Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s faller, reinforced in her instincts by a player who has maintained her level of inspiration: “When I was a little older, I watched Roger Federer a lot, I liked his aggressive game, his going to the net and his slice. Of course, I was also inspired by it.”

Add to that a calm character, which she walks on the court as well as in the city and which sometimes helps her to get out of big tussles like this crazy 3rd round at the US Open 2020 against Cirstea, and we get the panoply of a player who has nothing to lose and everything to please. “I’m calm and not showing much but I’m very happy with how my tournament is going“. What to manage to… calm the insatiable Sabalenka? The opposition of style has in any case what to make salivate and we can’t wait to attend this Sabachova, or Mucholenka, choose your favorite name.