(Paris) Four years have passed since Karolina Muchova beat Iga Swiatek in their only confrontation, four years during which their paths have diverged: it is in the well-established world N.1 in the elite that the Pole will face the Czech in search of glory.
In 2019 in Prague, Muchova, who had received an invitation, won in three sets in the first round against the Pole who had gone through the qualifications. A few months later, Swiatek made a name for himself by winning his first Roland-Garros to everyone’s surprise, without losing a single set of the tournament.
Then the Pole benefited from the retirement of the Australian world N.1 Ashleigh Barty to settle at the top of the hierarchy, a place where she asserted herself by achieving a phenomenal 2022 season with (eight titles, including a new Roland-Garros and one of the United States Open).
The Czech suffered multiple injuries (back, abdominals, ankle) and plunged in the standings to reach 235e rank last August, when his opponent on Saturday was at the height of his dominance.
Swiatek remembers this first duel in Prague well because at the time, she did not feel “not necessarily in (her) place” and she remembers that Muchova had “played very well”.
PHOTO KAI PFAFFENBACH, REUTERS
Karolina Muchova
“Best”
Now, the 21-year-old feels right in her place and very legitimate in her quest for a fourth Grand Slam title, the third in Paris.
“I am a better player. I have progressed in all areas, whether tennis, mentally, tactically, physically, I have more experience…”, she says.
Even if his defeat in 8are final in January in Australia, against the future finalist Elena Rybakina who has asserted herself in recent months as one of her main opponents on the circuit, remains in her throat.
“Since then, I have completely changed my state of mind to become more efficient and calmer,” she explains, also emphasizing that she feels better on clay than on hard.
“I have more weapons than on fast surfaces. I try to use this confidence to focus better, which allows me to play better,” she says.
Opposite, she will therefore have neither Rybakina nor the Belarusian Sabalenka (2e), the only two players to have beaten her this year (with the exception of Krejcikova in the final in Dubai), but the unexpected Muchova and her atypical game that she says she “appreciates a lot”.
“She has a very good touch on the ball, she is able to speed up the game, she has great freedom of movement and excellent technique”, summarizes Swiatek who says he has shared many training sessions with his next opponent.
“Perfect match”
She is coming back from difficult years, and in particular the period 2021-2022 when an abdominal injury kept her out for several months and at Roland-Garros in May 2022, her first Major since the United States Open United 2021, she injured her ankle again in the third round after having beaten the world No.4 and outgoing semi-finalist Maria Sakkari in second place.
So much so that after his semi-final in Australia in 2021, the ex-19e at the WTA will play her first Grand Slam final at the age of 26: “a dream”, but “everything comes to the point”, she philosophizes.
“I’ve had tough times in the past. So I only appreciate this moment more, ”she says.
To reach the final, she played two of her six matches in three sets, including the grueling half against Sabalenka, while Swiatek again reached the final without losing a single set and inflicting a total of four 6- 0 to his opponents in the first three rounds before benefiting from the abandonment of Tsurenko in the first set in 8e. In total, Muchova spent 12:04 a.m. battling, while Swiatek took 7:41 a.m. to complete the same course.
However, the Czech has a strong statistic in her favour: she has never lost against a player from the World Top3. From there to making it the favorite?
” I do not think so ! I didn’t know that stat, but that’s good. It proves that I am capable of playing against them”, analyzes Muchova who sees only one solution to lift the trophy on Saturday: “play the perfect match”.
