French Open 2023: Get to know maiden Grand Slam finalist Karolina Muchova

Karolina Muchova came from 2-5 down in the third and final set and saved a match point to defeat World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (5/7), 7-5 in the French Open semi-finals on Thursday. Muchova, 26 years old and ranked 43 in the world, won 20 of the last 24 points in the match. She will face defending champion Iga Swiatek, who beat Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second semi-final of the day. Who is Karolina Muchova? Quick snapshot: Muchova has a career high ranking of 19 which she achieved on 17 May, 2021. She has one singles title in her career that came in Seoul in 2019. She’s been to the final of Prague in the same year. Also in 2019, she was part of Czech Republic’s Billie Jean King Cup title winning team. Her previous best performances at majors have been: semi-finals of 2021 Australian Open and twice quarter-finals of Wimbledon (2019 and 2021). She had made the third round two years running at the French Open.

66.7% - Karolina Muchova has won 66.7% of her Grand Slam matches v top-10 (6-3): only Graf (75.3%), Navratilova (70.6%) and S. Williams (68.9%) have a higher win ratio since the WTA rankings were first published - min. 9 such matches. Unshy.#RolandGarros | @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/uxMnec6EBs

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) June 8, 2023

Muchova has a 6-3 record against top-10 players at a Grand Slam. Only Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams have a better success rate. Against top-three players in the world, Muchova has a 5-0 win-loss record. Four of those wins have come at Grand Slams - vs Karolina Pliskova (2019 Wimbledon), vs Ashleigh Barty (2021 Australian Open), vs Maria Sakkari (2022 French Open) and now Sabalenka. Injury setbacks

The same day that Pliskova plays her first match of 2022 Muchova is officially back practicing (in Miami I suppose). This is a GOOD and exciting day 🥰 pic.twitter.com/fcDuEKeC0n

— Cristian (@Doural28) March 11, 2022

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Muchova, who considers Roger Federer as her idol, has been plagued by injuries for much of her career. After turning professional in 2013, she’s grappled mostly with her abdominal muscles. “When she’s healthy, she belongs in the Top 10,” says her manager Tomas Petera. An abdominal issue sidelined her for seven months in 2021 while she ended last year’s French Open in a wheelchair after suffering an ankle injury. Muchova was told by doctors that she won’t be able to play the sport. Family

Muchova on the move 💥#RolandGarros | @karomuchova7 pic.twitter.com/h3adCgAjhG

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 4, 2023

Muchova’s father Josef Mucha is a former top-division footballer and played as a midfielder with Sigma Olomouc and FC Zlin. He is currently the assistant coach at FC Slovacko, who finished fifth in the Czech top flight last season. Muchova’s brother Filip Mucha is also a footballer — a goalkeeper for FK Teplice, who finished 12th last season. Musical inclination Muchova plays the guitar. At the 2020 US Open, played under tight Covid restrictions, she composed a song called US Open Bubble about her Covid-hit life there. She recorded a video at Flushing Meadows and published it on her Instagram. Before the fortnight of tennis began in Paris, she and good friend Karolina Pliskova went to a Beyonce concert. “One of the best concerts I’ve ever been to – and I go quite often,” she said. “I went to see Shawn Mendes before the US Open and the Backstreet Boys before Wimbledon and I always played well after that.” The Czech player prefers to unwind drinking lots of tea and reading. In Paris, she had to overcome a mild cold and that’s what she turned to. She stated she likes “esoteric and educational” literature. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News ,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.