Karolina Muchova put on a stellar show to reach her first Grand Slam final at the 2023 French Open, coming back from a 5-2 deficit in the deciding set against World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday.
The win was particularly significant for the Czech player, who is still on the comeback trail from a slew of injuries that derailed her rise last year.
Reflecting on the difficult period in her post-match press conference, Muchova said she has had many tough moments over the course of her career. She said that some doctors had even told her that she may never play tennis again.
“Well, there has been many moments, many lows, I would say, from one injury to another,” Karolina Muchova said. “For sure when I missed Australian Open last year, and I was in a pretty bad state healthy-wise, I was working out a lot to try to get back.””You never know,” she continued. “Some doctors told me, you know, maybe you’ll not do sport anymore. But I always kept it kind of positive in my mind and tried to work and do all the exercises to be able to come back.”
Addressing last year’s events, Muchova said she had decided to play lower-rung tournaments after her ranking dropped. The 26-year-old said she was happy to be playing at the highest level again at the French Open after the “up-and-downs”.