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NEW YORK – Karolina Muchova already had the picture of the tournament ready when she delivered an early contender for the US Open’s best performance yet.
Muchova’s 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over Naomi Osaka last Thursday night was a masterclass in variation and shotmaking. In one service game in the second set, Muchova held on to his love thanks to two volley winners, an ace and a devilish slice that a disgruntled Osaka could only throw into the net.
Osaka was not at her best, but rallied in the second set and briefly threatened to overpower her opponent. As the packed Arthur Ashe Stadium illustrates, despite her status as a wildcard entrant, she remains one of the biggest draws in the tennis world. A similarly rammed Louis Armstrong Stadium saw her overpower No. 10 seed Jelena Ostapenko on Tuesday, and at the French Open in late spring her meeting with world No. 1 and eventual champion Iga Swiatek made for a dismal first week.
There was still disappointment. Osaka said her “heart dies” when she loses, and that her team had seen the American hard-court swing as the moment when her return to tennis would explode.
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On Saturday, Muchova stormed into the last 16, beating Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 6-2, in another display of textured tennis. And on Monday she took over the women’s story of the year, the Italian Jasmine Paolini. Paolini had reached two consecutive Grand Slam finals and played a confident, smiling brand of tennis that leaned to her frame rather than playing around it.
Muchova defeated her 6-3, 6-3 and flowed through the court again. After nominating one contender for the tournament’s best performance, she now has another. And despite their contrasting fortunes this year in New York, the return of Muchova and Osaka is a huge victory for women’s tennis. Especially if they can stay fit.
Both players have been on the comeback trail this year. Muchova finally ended a nine-month absence after surgery on a serious wrist injury, and Osaka returned to the tour earlier this year after announcing her pregnancy 19 months ago. With the WTA Tour in an interesting spot, as Swiatek dominates Roland Garros, Aryna Sabalenka does the same in Melbourne, and the other two Grand Slams remain more open, the pinnacle of women’s tennis welcomes two more contenders.
Muchova has been a quarter-finalist or better at all four Grand Slams, but her ridiculously high ceiling has been lowered due to terrible injury luck.
The current world number 52, a 28-year-old from the Czech Republic, is a tennis player. Seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin said The Athletics in June that Muchova is one of her favorite players to watch because of her diversity and imagination. Osaka expressed similar sentiments after seeing it up close on Thursday.
Karolina Muchova’s deft touch is a hallmark of her tennis (Robert Prange/Getty Images)
“She is very athletic. She has a lot of variety,” Osaka said. “I enjoy watching her play and playing her, even if sometimes things don’t go my way.”
She dissected her own game, Muchova said The Athletics in an interview ahead of Wimbledon: “It’s who I am and how I like to play that fulfills me on the court. It’s just me. I wouldn’t want to play any other way, even if sometimes it’s too much. I’m enjoying it and I’ve spoken to my team and we’re trying to improve these things and I’ll try to continue this way.”
On Thursday, she said she just enjoys playing this way. “It’s fun,” she said.
For those who are not yet familiar with Muchova’s game, a crash course was offered on Thursday evening. She rushed to the net and hit far more often and far more efficiently than the vast majority of players on tour can do. Muchova finished the match winning 13 of 19 (68 percent) points at the net, and she served and volleyed in the clutch moments. She was also successful from the baseline, grabbing the first break of the match in the seventh game with a feathered drop shot, then closing the set with two thunderous forehand return winners when Osaka served next.
Muchova and Osaka’s second-round match electrified the US Open after a sluggish start (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
In the second set, Muchova hit some outrageous volley winners down the stretch, then dug in when Osaka served to take the match into a decisive phase. When the tiebreak, her brutal retrieval and use of slice to disrupt Osaka’s rhythm, produced a terrible mistake on match point, proceedings came to an end.
Now in the last sixteen, Muchova comes from a place no tennis player wants to go. After surgery in February, on the area of the body tennis players most fear being damaged, Muchova feared she might not play the sport again. At first she could not get out of bed or brush her teeth, but gradually her strength returned and her mood improved. Regularly attending concerts back home in the Czech Republic helped, with seeing English rock band Nothing But Thieves being a highlight.
She returned to the tour at Eastbourne, the British seaside turf, but withdrew after two matches to protect her wrist. She then lost to Paula Badosa in the first round of Wimbledon, in straight sets. Badosa, another player cruelly hit by injuries, said her biggest advice to Muchova was to “be patient.”
“Maybe I would say something different to another player, but she is so talented. Her level will return.”
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So it has been proven. Less than two months later, Muchova has knocked out a two-time US Open champion in thrilling fashion, and then a two-time Grand Slam finalist. She will advance to the quarter-finals to face Caroline Wozniacki or Beatriz Haddad Maia, neither of whom are looking forward to seeing Muchova on the other side of the net.
As an unseeded player, the Czech will be a dangerous factor in tournament draws even before she improves her ranking (Luke Hales / Getty Images)
For Osaka, as she aptly puts it, results haven’t paid off in her comeback. Flashes of her highest level, however, are a testament to what Badosa said to Muchova about patience and the need for time and match reps to raise the floor to match the incredible ceiling. “She is a great player and I am very happy to see her again,” Muchova said after her victory.
The challenge for both players now is to put together a series of good performances and improve their rankings (from No. 52 for Muchova and No. 88 for Osaka) so that they don’t play opponents of each other’s caliber so early . at tournaments. Osaka has not advanced beyond the quarter-finals of an event since beginning her comeback on New Year’s Eve, while Muchova, just a few WTA matches into her return, has always been able to compete against elite players without it translating into titles. According to Opta, of the nine active WTA players who have defeated five former world No. 1s at Grand Slams, Muchova is the only one who has not won a Major or Masters 1000 title.
Whether Muchova, or even Osaka, will win major tournaments soon is not so much the question. The fact that they are playing on the tour at all is a victory for tennis, because the sport benefits so much when they do.
(Top photo: Charly Tribelleau/AFP via Getty Images)