The on-site coverage of the campaign United States Open 2025.
Flushing, NY – What will Karolína Mutová, who is harmless in tennis, get?
A sport like this may be counter-factual, but in the case of the 29-year-old Czech, it goes beyond titles and grades rather than a wider tennis star. Muchová is one of the most natural volleyball players and shooters in the women's game. She admired Roger Federer since she was a child and compared it with Ashleigh Barty.
But the harm has always been cruel to Muchová. Her most recent wrist surgery was in February 2024, leaving her for nine months. Earlier this year, she had been unable to hit her backhand for several months after returning to tennis.
Here, however, she reborn again, approaching Naomi Osaka on Wednesday night, trying to reach the U.S. Open semifinal for the third time in a row.
Muchová, 29, is the 11th seed, is the player of the player and makes purists look to the pure. “She has always been one of the most talented tennis players out there and she's very good physically and she's very strong,” Osaka said in a press conference on Monday. “So it's going to be a very tough challenge.”
When Muchová returned to tennis after those nine months of layoffs, Igaświątek posted on X: “Glad you're back!” Świątek defeated Muchová in the only Grand Slam final in the Czech Republic, a three-set thriller for the French Open.
Her peers are in awe of her but talk to the legend of the game, and Muchová's name is not mentioned. In an interview last year, the seven-time Grand Slam champion and a beautiful technician Justine Henin selected Muchová as the player she likes to watch. “When she keeps going, she can play with anyone because she has shown some Grand Slam results. She is better than the top ten, she is top, and if she is healthy, she should win a professional, she's good enough.”
It's hard to disagree. Muchoválulys, Lobs, and can hit crazy tricks like behind the scenes of Katie Volynets at the U.S. Open last year. She covered the crush, but reached out a racket and redirected a lobe to her opponent.
Or the title of the match against Clara Tauson at the Dubai Tennis Championships in February, winning Muchová of the WTA's shot this month.
Tweener-lob winner 🚨
The championship of this month in February is…. @karomuchova7Woolen cloth
Depend on @corpayfx pic.twitter.com/eaxmazakap
– wta (@wta) March 11, 2025
At this year's U.S. Open, Muchová proposed another early contender in the race, chasing a volley against Sorana Cîrstea and waving one-handed backhand champion Crosscourt.
Karolina Muchova.
Tennis🔥 pic.twitter.com/p6dls9iewd
– US Tapping Network (@usopen) August 28, 2025
Shooting such shots is very important for Muchová. “I want to shoot a unique shot,” she said in an interview at the Australian Open in January. “That's so cool.” But what sets her apart is how she does other things. She changed the rhythm like a jazz musician, mixing Syncoped Crackerjack's ground shot with a long rally. Her exercise is a study. Her barbarian forehand.
But what Muchová really wants is to stay healthy. Regardless of the sport, his body’s special talent that doesn’t play basketball is a powerful story.
Muchová was frequently injured in junior year due to a late growth due to wrist injuries and had no matches between August 2021 and March 2022. By then, she had reached two Wimbledon quarterfinals and one Australian Open semifinal, bringing out the world number one competition at the time on the world turf at the time. Her French Open final was the second year to win 6-4 in the Deciders. Muchová defeated Aryna Sabalenka's rise in the semi-finals and lowered the match point 5-2 in the final. Her record in the top five professional players is 5-1.
These results combined with her abilities make the Czech Republic a cult hero in the sport, the pleasure of watching, and a thing that wants to discuss until the sun sets. Muchová himself is persevering. After reaching the quarterfinals on Monday, she talked about her recent wrist surgery: “I mean, this isn’t my first injury, so I went there and did that.”
However, this kind of damage is particularly cruel. Like former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro, that stopped her backhand from hitting, and although he only hit the slice on the backhand in 2018, he made it to the finals here. The couple exchanged news last year.
On Wimbledon this year, Muchová could only hit the slices. In an interview after losing to Wang Xinyu in the first round, she said: “I don't think it's difficult, but when I need that picture, when someone approaches the net, I need to play quickly and I can't play, I can't, and then I'm like, 's, I need it now.”
Muchová also lost her voice, and despite her attempts to stay optimistic, it was a very difficult time for her and her team.
Being able to play after only one game in the clay court season is a blessing. With the pain relieved on her wrist, she was able to hit her backhand again during hard training in the United States. Not always and not always without pain, but she got there.
Muchová said throughout the New York match that she needed to lift her wrist slowly, but the length and drama of the game put it under the maximum pressure. Her four games were three for three, the last three lasted about three hours, and none of the players left in the draw spent longer in court than she did.
Karolína Muchová is one of the greatest attractions in tennis. (Susan Mullane / Getty Images)
Muchová also had to deal with an ex-boyfriend who said “sometimes it shows up where he shouldn't” and her eyeliner during her defeat of Cîrstea. A tearful Muchová was obviously unhappy and later confirmed that he did leave in the end. She said she didn't consider this in the third round against Linda Nosková, and she won despite losing the first set she should definitely win.
Her recovery period brought about changes in other areas. Muchová recently broke up with Emil Miske, who directed her for five years in two spells. She then hired Vaclav Shafranek, the former player she met whom she met Padel at a club in Prague, who were both members. Muchová asked him what he was going to do these days, and things went from there until the quarter-finals against Osaka. After each long game, it feels like Muchová will not be able to stay physically, but she does it every time. This factor prompted a match for Muchová in Osaka’s support, otherwise she beat Osaka last year.
No matter who she plays, Muchová tries to bring diversity. “It's who I am, the way I like to play, to fill me up,” she said in a phone interview last year. “It's just me. I don't want to play any other way – even if it's too much sometimes.”
She said in January, she was at Volleying and shooting at the ball at the age of 10. Not because she's seen videos of anyone doing this, but because it's natural. As she got older, she looked at Federer more and loved what she saw.
“Roger is all his shots. I really like how elegant he looks. So I'll definitely copy some of his shots with certainty. I just love having fun on the court.”
She even tried to serve like him, and then her coach said she would have more power if she put her legs together on a precise standpoint rather than Federer's platform. At the U.S. Open last year, Muchová used Federer's Chip and Charge SABR (Roger Secret Attack) tactics to work very well against Jasmine Paolini in the fourth round.
Karolina Muchova and SABR! 🤺 pic.twitter.com/rieah3whct
– US Tapping Network (@usopen) September 2, 2024
When Barty appeared, Muchová had another idol: “I was really looking up to her. Her competition was great and she didn't play. Barty retired at 25 in 2022 and she is still the number one in the world.
Muchová's volley is another point different from the rest of the tour. Her lows and the way she moves toward the ball is a move by someone who really knows how to rehearse, rather than finding her own tennis ball and hoping for the best. Miske used to show her clips, such as Pat Rafter and Stefan Edberg Alleying, because he felt she always learned the best when watching something. He hopes she will rehearse further in the future.
Miske described Muchová as a fast learner and evolved almost immediately. “Most players need a week or two or a month to improve their forehand,” he said in a telephone interview last year. “Carolina is two practice classes, everything, everything is absolutely in shape.”
“She has performed well online if not better,” said Navarratilova, the best in the sport’s history. “I think her skills are better. Amazing skills and feelings, and the feeling when you attack and attack forward. She has all the shots so she can implement it no matter what strategy you give her. Most men don't.
Miske adds that Muchová has “four or five different slice variants” and “every exercise there is where you go, ‘Wow.’” She always struggles to develop her own variety, and Miske hopes she can develop a Rafael Nadal-style Skyhook.
Muchová showed off this photo and her full abilities at last year’s U.S. Open, never as good as in the semifinal against Jessica Pegula. She removed the Americans, led one game and brought a breakthrough to the other. At this point, she further got involved in the net, but missed the rare volley. Pegula recovered, found her rhythm and took Modova away.
She suffered some of this loss, and at the lowest level of the tour, her count of one of her WTA titles was a deficient achievement for talented people, even considering her injuries.
But partly because of the injury, tennis isn't everything to her. Muchová's brother and her father are both professional footballers, and as goalkeepers, he would take out a young Karolína to shoot at him. She also participates in sports such as handball, gymnastics, hockey and even skating, and attributes her athleticism to the basis of many sports.
She is also a player in the hinterland like music, providing her with another creative channel. She plays the guitar and has a good singing voice, as evidenced by the clips she posted on social media.
She is so talented – https://t.co/vvui2eyp0f pic.twitter.com/hufqlhnzxn
– Ryan (@some1namedryan) June 26, 2023
Although she was far ahead after wrist surgery last year, for two months she started acting, initially unable to get out of bed or brush her teeth, and she attended many concerts and festivals – seeing nothing highlights outside of the thief outside of the British rock band. She is also interested in fashion and loves photo shoots from this year's new Adidas Y-3 series. She took pictures of Czech Vogue a few years ago.
On Wednesday night, it was all important that she played against Osaka, a player she practiced before the game. Osaka feels relieved to play her at this stage of the game, not last year's second round. She said last week: “It's fun, I played with Muchová the other day and I thought, thank God, I don't have to play you in the first or second round, she's laughing, too.”
The latest comeback will be in place where Muchová is uncertain, but she is determined to enjoy it in the long run.
(Top photo: Robert Prange / Getty Images)