Tennis tournament French Open in Paris (clay, subsidy 49.6 million euros): Women: Singles – final:, June 10, 2023, Defeated finalist Karolína Muchová from the Czech Republic.
Paris – Tennis player Karolína Muchová had slightly bitter feelings after losing the Roland Garros final against world number one Iga Šwiateková from Poland. After a 2:6, 7:5, 4:6 defeat and an almost three-hour fight, she felt that the first Grand Slam title was within reach. But the performance of her life gave her new motivation, just as she was pleased by the words of the legendary American Chris Evert after the match. She didn't want to make excuses for the health problems she had during the tournament and said in an interview with journalists that she will come back even stronger.
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Photo gallery: French Open 2023 tennis tournament
“It's a bit bitter now because it was a very difficult duel. But to be able to call myself a Grand Slam finalist is overall an amazing achievement. It's also a great motivation to keep working on myself and she had a chance to play for these big titles again,” Muchová said.
The 26-year-old native of Olomouc assessed her entry into the match as slow. Gradually, however, she tried to change the rhythm of the game and get the hot favorite out of the tempo. She succeeded and tied the match. “In the third set, the difference was not that big. We both had chances, only I didn't use them as well as she did,” recounted Muchová, who led 2:0 and 4:3 with a break.
She had no thoughts of triumph at that time. “No, not that. I concentrated on a good serve to help myself to quick points, but it didn't go as I planned. Iga played incredible games on the return. She didn't mess up and didn't give me an easy point,” the Czech tennis player pointed out. “I'm sad because it was very close. I felt that it was really close. It was my biggest match and I didn't manage the ending. But when I look at it from a greater distance, it's a great result,” said the player who will move from 43rd to 16th place in the world rankings.
After the match, during the ceremony and the applause of the fans, she couldn't hold back tears. She also received congratulations from 18-time Grand Slam singles winner Evert. “She said really nice words to me. I'm not even going to say them because I don't know if she'd want to. I'll keep them to myself. But I have to say that after those two demanding weeks I'm quite exhausted. And when everyone applauds you, it was a lot emotional,” said the player of I. ČLTK Prague. The place for the new trophy for participation in the final has not yet been thought of.
She enjoyed her performance at Roland Garros all the more because her parents supported her from the audience the whole time. She originally arranged tickets for them so that they could catch the 1st round match with the world number eight Maria Sakkariová of Greece. However, their stay in Paris was pleasantly prolonged. “I'm very happy that they experienced it with me and supported me. There's definitely something in it that they were here and I did well. It's great.”
On the court, she promised the fans that she would come back even stronger. She repeated the same among journalists. “I definitely feel that way. Today's match and the two weeks in general motivate me a lot and have shown me that I can play with the best. I already had a great match in the semi-finals and now I was close to winning against the world number one, who is the best on clay. It was not that cliché. I'm ready to get back to work and work hard to repeat these results,” she assured.
Although she had problems with a cold during the tournament and had cramps in the semi-finals, she did not want to return to health restrictions. “I don't like to have regrets and make excuses for these things. It's true that I came to the tournament a little sick. After that I was a little down, but I always managed to play matches quite well. I knew I had to play faster tennis because I had trouble with breathing, as it lay on my bronchial tubes. But I don't like to discuss these things, because I managed to get this far. I would easily be sick like this every tournament,” she said with a smile.
Performances on clay that not her favorite surface, they baited her before the grass part of the season. It will peak from July 3 in Wimbledon. “I'm looking forward to grass and fast surfaces, I definitely prefer them. But it's nice to know that I can also play well on clay,” said Muchová. .
He will discuss the next program with coach Emil Mišek. After the demanding Roland Garros, he wants to rest. “The plan was to play a tournament in the Netherlands next week, but I won't play it. After that, I'm signed up for Berlin, but it's hard to say if I'll make it or if I'll apply for a card to Eastbourne to play at least one tournament before Wimbledon. There's also a possibility that I won't play no tournament, I will prepare well and focus only on Wimbledon,” she added.
