Karolína Muchová’s Creative Game and the Challenge of Facing Aryna Sabalenkova in the French Open Semifinals

Czech tennis can have its fourth French Open finalist in eight years. The last step towards imitating Lucie Šafářová, Markéta Vondroušová and Barbora Krejčíková is left to 26-year-old Karolína Muchová from Olomouc.

However, on Thursday afternoon at the famous court of Philippe Chatrier, she will face a challenge with the highest degree of difficulty: Aryna Sabalenková.

Belarus, whose performances are increasingly reminiscent of Serena Williams in her prime.

The native of Minsk has not yet lost a set in Paris, and after her triumph at the Australian Open in January, she is looking for another Grand Slam trophy and the post of world number one.

Whatever is going on around her in connection with the war in Ukraine and her former support of the dictator Alexander Lukashenko, she delivers the highest possible quality on the court without exception. Up to mechanically reliable.

The player who, before the semi-finals, did not stop the growing pressure to make political statements and publicly renounced the president of her country, will be the unequivocal favorite. However, there are voices in the world tennis environment who not only desire, but also believe in the opposite result.

For example, Mats Wilander. The former world number one player and long-time expert working for the Eurosport station revealed on the air that Muchová is his favorite player.

He praised her strongly back in 2019, he has been following her since then and thinks she has improved a lot, especially on her serve and forehand.

“I like her very much. She plays absolutely brilliant tennis, her game lacks nothing and is more attacking than in the past. Few people on the circuit can change the rhythm like Karolína. Her tennis is very handsome, her hands are very skillful,” praised Muchová.

One of the biggest icons in the history of tennis: Martina Navrátilová, had her say on the game of the two-time Grand Slam semifinalist.

“It’s old school. Classic all-court tennis. No massive weapon, but her biggest weapon is her variety,” the 18-time Grand Slam singles winner told WTA Insider.

“She has a really nice slice, better than most. She often plays the drop shot and plays it in a way that you don’t know if it’s going to come or not. Tennis is about forcing your opponent to play balls they don’t want to play. But she’s comfortable in all parts of the court Navrátilová praised.

According to well-known tennis journalist Courtney Nguyen, Muchova is “a fascinating departure from modern tennis norms”. In his playing, he is said to combine old-school techniques with a unique flair.

Alluring, good-sounding, albeit in many ways lame, comparisons to Roger Federer appear more and more often in the world tennis media.

In Paris, even local legend Fabrice Santoro made no secret of his admiration for Muchová’s colorful style, which is increasingly rarely seen on the circuit.

He got to know the Czech tennis player directly on the court and waxed lyrical about her talent in interviews right at Roland Garros.

“On the women’s circuit, it is very difficult to find players who have more options than Karolína. Even if you only watch her match for fifteen minutes, you will see every stroke. She can serve-volley, backhand slice, forehand across and down the line, dropshots, volleys. And all the punches are nice, he has great technique. He belongs at least in the top ten,” ČTK quoted him as saying.

According to Santoro, a similarly varied game can be a highly unpleasant affair for the early-rounder Sabalenka.

“It’s not easy for anyone to fight a player who has so many options. Even though Sabalenkova has more power, if she starts playing Mucha’s short slices, long slices, two-handed backhand down the line and then shortens the game again, she has a good chance,” Santoro instructed.

The expected semi-final is on the program on Thursday from 15:00 on the central court of Philippe Chatrier.