Karolína Muchová’s Parents Extend Stay in Paris after Grand Slam Final

On the contrary, they were proud of their daughter, who only lost in the final to world number one Iga Šwiateková.

“I’m not devastated by the final defeat. It was a beautiful tournament and vacation. It took us a little bit, but we enjoyed it. We saw seven beautiful games of Carolina and many more,” said Mucha.

The former football midfielder and most recently assistant coach in Slovakia told journalists that her success will help her in the future as well.

“Great pride prevails. We are congratulated by such (tennis) personalities as Mr. Fibak or Mr. Kodeš. You read what other legends have to say about her. It really warms you up. That your daughter can get so far, you never thought about it in all these years.” he added.

He left the evaluation of the final with Šwiateková, in which Muchová almost completed the turnaround, but eventually lost 2:6, 7:5, 4:6, to the coaches. But the result of his twenty-six-year-old daughter pleased him even more that she achieved it on clay. “I don’t think it’s Kaja’s strongest surface,” he pointed out.

He is used to chanting from football stadiums. But when he heard how the stands on Philippe Chatrier’s court applauded his daughter, he did not hide his emotion. “It’s wonderful. She deserved it for what she gave it. These are the moments that sport is made for,” said Mucha, who enjoyed the duels very much.

“When the match starts in football, it falls out of you as a player. But when you train, it’s nerves. And as a parent? You experience that very emotionally,” he described.

On the day of the final, he did not see his daughter and at least sent her and his wife an encouraging message, but they visited each other often during the tournament. They also went to the rented house of the tennis player and coaches for dinner.

“We went for coffee and dinner three or four times. We lived not far from the stadium and Kája was about ten minutes from us. Otherwise, Kája didn’t need us. She put together a great team of professionals who got it from her. They really did a huge job, it it helped her a lot,” praised Mucha.

As their stay in Paris lengthened and they kept canceling their flights and postponing their hotel stays, they became familiar faces.

“Once we came to the room and they had a big congratulation and chocolates. After the last match, they left us glasses of champagne and a congratulatory letter. That’s a pleasure. We had a great time here,” Mucha said with a smile.

According to her father, the Olomouc native benefited from being involved in a number of sports in her youth. He also appreciated her stubbornness. “There are a lot of incidents, but rather she still has the will to work on herself. If you look at where she was two years ago and where she had to claw her way from, it’s amazing now,” he recalled a number of health problems.

Muchová had a disposition for sports thanks to her father’s successful career. Her brother Filip, who is a football goalkeeper in the league Teplice, is also doing well.

“Sometimes we had three children’s matches in one day. My wife suffered the most, who sometimes said: ‘I don’t know if I’ll give the last one.’ If I was good at music, for example, the children would have done something else. But because I was close to sports, they played sports from an early age,” said Mucha.

But nobody pushed Muchová into sports. “For her to have stress and the like? Never. If someone pressured Kája, she would rather cut herself off and say no. The word ‘must’ has never been used with us,” he said and appreciated how Muchová handles matches emotionally.

“I think her wife raised her well. She behaves well on the court all the time. You don’t see her throwing the racket and getting upset. That’s also why she’s popular with the other players. She’s our easy-going Kája,” Mucha said with a smile.

According to the former player of Olomouc and Zlín, participation in the Grand Slam final with his daughter does not waver. “It’ll be okay. She’s sad now because a piece was missing, but she’ll be thinking about how to proceed in a little while,” he said. He liked that the Czech tennis player gave Šwiatek a friendly hug after the match. “After all, it’s just a sport. She knows how to behave and it will definitely come back to her,” he added.

And although his involvement in the football club Slovácko ended after the season, he did not think about the future during his daughter’s campaign in Paris. “I will start it when we return home. I will go to Slovácko to return things and see what life will bring. When I take a break, I will see you at Wimbledon,” added Mucha.