‘We have a new Ashleigh Barty’ – Karolina Muchova likened to former world No 1
Karolina Muchova has been compared to Ashleigh Barty following her run to the French Open final while her performance over Aryna Sabalenka has also left one former world No 1 “speechless”.
Ranked No 43 before the start of the clay-court Grand Slam, not too many people would have predicted that Muchova would reach the final in Paris.
But the 26-year-old stunned eighth seed Maria Sakkari in the first round and kicked on after that as she also took out 2021 Roland Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round before delivering one of the performances of the tournament in the semi-final against Sabalenka.
World No 2 Sabalenka has been one of the form players in 2023 as she was 34-5 this year heading into the meeting while her win-loss record on clay was 15-2.
Yet Muchova produced a sublime performance as to defeat the in-form Belarusian and, during the Eurosport post-match analysis, pundit Mats Wilander was quick to draw parallels with former world No 1 Ashleigh Barty.
“That was the best match on the women’s tour. We have a new Ash Barty – she is as close to Ash Barty but with a little more power,” he said.
“I believe Muchova has improved her serve and trusts her serve. Her forehand has improved immensely, especially her inside-out forehand. In the end, she is so knowledgeable with a tennis racket in her hand in terms of the variety.”
Women’s tennis has been dominated by the power hitters in recent months with Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina the most obvious examples with world No 1 Iga Swiatek – who Muchova will meet in Saturday’s final – also not really known for her finesse.
Muchova, though, is bringing something different to the table and tennis great Chris Evert highlighted the Czech’s movement, consistency, unpredictability and soft hands as just some of the key features of her game.
Sabalenka was 5-2 up in the deciding set and had a match point, but the unseeded Muchova held firm and won 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 in over three hours.
“What a moment. I’m speechless; that match had everything you could ever want in a match. Muchova hasn’t played a lot of matches this year, but boy did she show us an improved game,” the legendary Evert said.
“She might have gotten injured, but she did some hard work during that time off. Her serve has a lot more stick on it, she is moving better than ever. We’re not even talking about the flair or finesse or variety she has.
“What makes her a great player is her mobility. Her movement on court, the way she can run from corner to corner is very good.
“I think she is a solid player, by that I mean consistent. She doesn’t make a lot of unforced errors. She has a nice serve; her temperament is excellent. She is very calm and her mentally and mindset is better than most.
“I love her variety. She can take you out of your safety zone with her drop shots, sliced backhand, coming to the net. She can surprise you and is so unpredictable. She is the only player that has such finesse.
“You look at the players that are dominating women’s tennis – Swiatek, Sabalenka, Rybakina – it’s all about power, not about finesse. Then Muchova comes along.
“Muchova is as good a tennis player as Sabalenka, she volleyed better and has better hands.”
