Karolina Muchova faced Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the Roland-Garros quarterfinals. Despite losing her serve twice in the first set, Muchova delivered an impressive performance, securing a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Pavlyuchenkova, last year’s finalist. This marked her second Grand Slam semifinal after the 2021 Australian Open. Following a six-month abdominal injury break, she only reached one WTA 250 quarterfinal in 2022.
Starting outside the top 230, Muchova has made remarkable progress, reaching notable stages in WTA 1000 events such as quarterfinals in Dubai and Indian Wells, and the third and fourth rounds in Miami and Rome, respectively. Success at Roland-Garros could elevate her ranking into the top 50, with the potential for a top 30 placement.
Muchova’s journey began with a comeback win against Maria Sakkari, recovering from deficits in both sets. She also defeated former semifinalist Nadia Podoroska and clay specialist Irina-Camelia Begu.
While Muchova has reached two semifinals, she has yet to advance to a final beyond the WTA 250 level. Her previous semifinals resulted in a runner-up finish in Prague and a title in Seoul in 2019. However, her subsequent three appearances in the final four ended in narrow defeats, including a three-set loss to Jennifer Brady at the 2021 Australian Open.
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David Kotyza, a Czech tennis coach, achieved acclaim for his work with Petra Kvitová, a two-time Wimbledon champion, and the Czech Republic Fed Cup team. Starting in November 2008, Kotyza coached Kvitová, who had already made her mark in tennis by reaching the round of 16 at the 2008 French Open. Under his guidance, Kvitová steadily advanced on the WTA Tour, breaking into the world’s top ten in May 2011 after winning the Mutua Madrid Open. She had a significant breakthrough at Wimbledon, defeating Maria Sharapova in the final to become the first Czech player since Jana Novotná to win a Grand Slam title. Kvitová also won the prestigious 2011 WTA Tour Championships, elevating her ranking from 34 to a career-high of 2 in just twelve months.
During his partnership with Kvitová, Kotyza oversaw all but one of her seventeen career titles, missing only her WTA title in Dubai in 2013 when he was on vacation. Kotyza resigned as head coach of the Czech Republic Fed Cup team in 2012 to focus on coaching Kvitová. However, they decided to part ways in January 2016. Kotyza had brief coaching stints with Caroline Wozniacki and Karolína Plíšková, ending after the 2017 US Open. From March 2020 to September 2022, Kotyza served as the coach of Karolína Muchová.
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