Muchova mentally refreshed as she looks to build on Roland-Garros runner-up appearance
The Czech has reacheed the quarter-finals twice at Wimbledon but has not played a warm-up event this time
Karolina Muchova at a press conference in Prague in 2023 CTK Photobank / Panoramic
Performing well at both Roland-Garros and Wimbledon is always a tricky task, the quick turnaround from clay even tougher when you don’t get a chance to play competitively on grass beforehand.
That’s the situation facing Karolina Muchova, the Czech who surprised everyone, including herself, by reaching the final at Roland-Garros last month with a superb run, beating Aryna Sabalenka in the semis and then pushing Iga Swiatek to a deciding set in a high-quality final.
Muchova needed some time off to recover from what she said was “an amazing two weeks” but said she was ready to go on her favourite surface, at a tournament where she reached the quarter-finals in 2019 and 2021.
“Mentally, I’m pretty good,” Muchova said. “I was looking forward to coming here, as I always do when I don’t play some time, but it’s been pretty fast. It honestly feels like two days ago I was in Paris.
“The time was very, very fast with with media and stuff and the preparation. And now I’m here, looking forward to playing here at Wimbledon. So that’s my state now. “
“It would be a dream to win Wimbledon but it’s a long way to go”
Muchova had hoped to play an exhibition match at Stoke Park, host of the Boodles Tournament, but WTA rules did not allow it, she said, since it was in a tournament week. Instead, she practised at the All England Club and will open her campaign against Jule Niemeier, a quarter-finalist last year, on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old is a laid-back character, it seems, and she’s not stressed at the prospect of going in cold.
“I was hoping to get the one match there to to be prepared a little bit better, but it didn’t happen,” she said.
With her game style – serve and volley, chip, charge and nice touch at the net – she loves playing on the surface and she’s well-tipped to go far this year, even if she’s in a tough section of the draw.
And though she played on grass for the first time only six years ago, there’s no doubt what’s on her mind.
“It would be a dream to win Wimbledon, yes,” she said, “but there’s a very long way to go.”
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