The Natural and the No. 1 Will Face Off in the French Women’s Final
She overcame those to make the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2019 and the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2021, stunning the world No. 1, and local favorite, Ashleigh Barty — an admittedly massive Muchova fan, by the way. But a series of nagging injuries, including a sprained ankle just as she was catching fire in the third round of last year’s French Open, sent Muchova spiraling to 235th in the world rankings, far from her peak of 19th in 2021.
“Many lows, I would say, from one injury to another,” she said after her win Thursday. “Some doctors told me, you know, maybe you’ll not do sport anymore.”
She tried to stay positive, though, grinding through one rehabilitation after another even as she struggled through small tournaments in places like Concord, Mass.; Shrewsbury, England; and Angers, France.
Things happen quickly in tennis. She entered the French Open ranked 43rd, the kind of dreaded unseeded opponent no one wants to draw. She beat the eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece in the first round and dropped just one set in her first five matches. Just like that she was playing the tightest of third sets in front of 15,000 people in a Grand Slam semifinal. She could hear the trumpets and the throngs chanting her name as she tried to stay calm.
“Here and there I had to let it out and scream a little bit,” she said, adding: “It was crazy out there.”
Source: The New York Times
