“One of the worst matches I played here” – Muchova on losing Beijing title to Gauff

Czech Karolina Muchova‘s dreamy run at China Open turned into a nightmare in the final against American Coco Gauff, the No 4 seed, on Sunday as she suffered a straight-set loss.

Muchova, the world No 49, knocked out some big names en route to the summit clash. She began the WTA 1000 tournament by thrashing Russian Anna Blinkova (6-1, 6-1) and marched on with victories against seed No 30 Yuan Yue (6-3, 6-1), Jaqueline Cristian (6-1, 6-3), and Cristina Bucsa (6-2, 6-0).

In the quarter-finals, she knocked out world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka (7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-4) before taking down home hero Zheng Qinwen, the No 7 seed, in the semi-finals (6-3, 6-4).

Muchova stepped on the court with Gauff for the final trailing 2-0 in the head-to-head and failed to stop the American from completing a hat-trick. She could hold the world No 6 off for less than 80 minutes, spraying 24 unforced errors and three double faults.

Maybe it was actually one of the worst matches that I played here.”

Karolina Muchova

“I think I was playing the other matches pretty solid,” Muchova noted in her post-match press conference. “I served better. I wasn’t doing that many mistakes. Of course, she pushed me and made me do those errors.

“But yeah, I didn’t help myself with the serve. That’s my game usually. I keep serve. I wasn’t able to do that today. Yeah, I think was my weakest performance. In that way I meant that I help her a little bit. But obviously she made it tough and she played really great.”

The loss in two sets meant Muchova remains without a set over Gauff in their three meetings thus far. This was their second final, having played their first in Cincinnati in 2023 when the American took the trophy home with a 6-3, 6-4 win.

A few weeks later, the duo faced off in the US Open semi-finals, where Gauff, the eventual champion, prevailed 6-4, 7-5.

“I mean, I lost to her three times in a row,” Muchova added. “I’ll say very similar losses. I lost them all the same way. It was always the latest rounds of the tournaments when I got many matches under the belt. It’s very physical with her. I felt like the second one always in the rallies.

“I guess her game… I don’t know. It’s tough to say. I felt like I didn’t play my best, so it’s tough to say. It makes me probably uncomfortable when I lost to her three times in a row.”

Muchova is now 4-0 in the Tour finals since lifting her maiden title at Korea Open in 2019. In the record books, she has another loss in title clashes written below her name, from Prague Open in 2019.

Muchova’s next stop is Wuhan

Karolina Muchova lives to fight another day as she sets off for Wuhan on Monday to compete in the concluding WTA 1000 event of the year. It will be her debut appearance at the Wuhan Open, the event making the calendar after half a decade.

“It’s going to be very challenging,” Muchova said in her Beijing presser on Sunday. “I mean, now I played three days in a row. It’s a lot. Tomorrow’s a travel day, then play on Tuesday another match. I think even if I would be very, very ready, very well-prepared, it’s just very tough for anyone.

“If I would want to win Wuhan, I would need to play from Tuesday six matches in a row against the best. It’s I would say almost impossible. So it’s very tough and very challenging. I’ll see how it’s going to work.”

The 28-year-old will start his campaign in Wuhan against Japan’s Uchijima Moyuka.

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