Karolína Muchová demonstrated her extraordinary abilities in the first round of the tournament in Dubai, where she swept away her American rival, performed a breathtaking tweener, and in addition, in one of the statistics, equaled the ruler of world tennis herself.
Currently ranked 112th in the world, she has to work her way back up after long-term health problems, but few people doubt that she belongs to the world’s top players with her tennis skills.
The former 19th player in the world Karolína Muchová left a great impression with her performance at the big tournament in Dubai on Monday, when she swept American Bernarda Pera, a member of the elite world 50, from the court in the opening round after sets 6:1, 6:4.
The Czech shone on serve, she didn’t give the dangerous sokyna any chance, because she didn’t let her get a single break point in the whole match.
The Czech tennis player managed such a feat for the third time in the season, while she has played only eight matches so far.
In this statistic, there is currently no one better on the women’s circuit. With a third break point “clean” match, Muchová tied the world number one Iga Šwiateková from Poland and the winner of two tournaments Belinda Bencicová from Switzerland.
In the second set, the 26-year-old from Olomouc added a bonus: a contribution to the montages of the most beautiful moments of the season. She flashed a phenomenal winning shot.
She did the so-called tweener perfectly, i.e. a shot played between the legs with her back to the net.
Muchová chose it in an almost hopeless situation and conjured a flawless lob from it, which her petrified opponent could only watch in admiration. The Czech then duly celebrated her masterpiece.
Karolína Muchová’s tweener in Dubai:
It was as if this was a new trend in women’s tennis, where previously similar stunts only happened exceptionally. During the first weeks of the new season, Muchová is already the third player who managed to play a tweener in such a way that it turned into a winning shot.
In Lyon, twenty-two-year-old American Alycia Parks was similarly enchanted, last week in Doha, twenty-year-old Chinese sensation Zheng Qinwen showed a golden hand.
“That was the best tweener I’ve ever seen on the WTA circuit,” Grand Slam champion Viktoria Azarenkova wrote on social media at the time.
Tweener Zheng Qinwen in Doha:
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a WTA player hit a tweener with this much flare.
Qinwen Zheng is a star in more ways than one.
Most athletic player on the tour? Confirmed ✅
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) February 14, 2023
After an important victory in the live ranking, Muchová has now moved close to the top 100, from which she dropped out in July last year, shortly after that she fell to 235th place in the WTA ranking.
Last season, she played only 23 matches, of which she lost more than half.
However, she is now approaching her ideal form again, in Dubai she will face Romania’s Sorana Cirstea in the second round on Tuesday.
Alycia Parks’ Tweener in Lyon:
