French Open tennis tournament in Paris (clay, subsidy 49.6 million euros): Women: Singles – final, June 10, 2023. Karolína Muchová from the Czech Republic.
Paris – Karolína Muchová's life-long campaign at Roland Garros, which only ended in the final on the racket of world number one Iga Šwiateková from Poland, was also supported by her team. While during the tournament, coach Emil Miške and physiotherapist Jaroslav Blažek tried to cure the Czech tennis player of a cold and prepare her for the next opponents after challenging duels, Blažek revealed to journalists that he also had a personal ritual: a morning run around the Eiffel Tower.
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Photo gallery: French Open 2023 tennis tournament
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“I came up with it for the first time before the first round match against (Maria) Sakkariová,” said Blažek about the duel, in which Muchová defeated the world number eight from Greece 7:6, 7:5. “I couldn't sleep, I was nervous, so I went for a run. And then it couldn't be canceled,” added the physiotherapist, whose ritual Miške also strongly encouraged.
The circuit from the rented house to the main tourist attraction of Paris was roughly twelve kilometers. Blažek ran in the morning, when there were not so many people on the streets. “For the next run, I always thought to myself: You fool, again. Unreal. But then it got so far that I was running on the same streets and stepping on the same curb. There were also some stairs. Some I ran up one and the other down two. An obsession of the highest category,” Blažek recounted with a smile.
The fitness coach and physiotherapist, who also helped Muchová as a sparring partner, is used to running from home. He admitted that he still improved his fitness. “The last time I ran it, I quite enjoyed it. There were more of those rituals. We ran on it and made fun of it. At Wimbledon, we'll come up with something else, maybe on a bike,” said Blažek, and Miška agreed that he would a good challenge was to run up the Empire State Building during the US Open.
However, Muchová's preparation was not only about rituals. The 26-year-old native of Olomouc had problems with a cold during the tournament. During some matches, she took lozenges for a sore throat, played two duels with burning in her lungs.
“We came up with something. We made onion juice with honey to soothe the throat. There was always a consultation with the doctor and we adjusted the daily schedule according to how Kája felt,” revealed Blažek. “It didn't affect the maintenance of the musculoskeletal system, but it really takes strength. You don't always get a good night's sleep and regeneration is a key issue. You have an excuse in your head: Well, I can actually lose because I'm sick. But that never happened with Kája. She didn't let it go to her head,” added Blažek.
He therefore appreciated the will of the Czech tennis player, who, despite the difficulties, honestly completed the training sessions. “The procedure has been a lot since the morning. Sometimes it can happen that one would prefer to cough it up and go to bed. After the third round, we finished at half past one in the morning. The match ended late, but the hour and a half passed anyway. I this testifies to her morale,” said the fitness trainer.
Everyone solved the big task even after the more than three-hour semi-final with Belarus' Aryna Sabalenkova, when a second physiotherapist also arrived in Paris. Together they put Muchová together for up to five hours. “There was lighter training for that, because if you lie in bed and do nothing, it's worse than having at least some activity. In the end, it's not only about muscles, but also about blisters on your feet and other things,” added Blažek.
Although Muchová played a dramatic final against world number one Šwiatek and was close to a successful turnaround, in the end she ran out of strength after a demanding program. According to Miške, not everyone could handle such a journey. “However, given Karolína's pain threshold and experience, she was ready to play,” added the Grand Slam finalist's coach.
