Background and career
Karolína Muchová (Czech pronunciation: [ˈkaroliːna ˈmuxovaː]; born 21 August 1996) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of No. 6 by the WTA, achieved in July 2026, and a best doubles ranking of No. 156, reached in January 2026. Muchová has won three WTA Tour singles titles, including a WTA 1000 event at the 2026 Qatar Ladies Open. She has contested two major singles finals, at the 2023 French Open and 2026 Wimbledon Championships. She has won a mixed doubles title at the 2026 US Open, with compatriot Jakub Menšík. Muchová turned professional in 2013. She made her Grand Slam tournament main-draw debut at the 2018 US Open as a qualifier, reaching the third round by defeating No. 12, Garbiñe Muguruza. In 2019, she reached her maiden major quarterfinal at Wimbledon, upsetting No. 3, Karolína Plíšková, captured her first WTA Tour title at the Korea Open, and reached the semifinals at the WTA Elite Trophy. In 2021, she reached the semifinals at the Australian Open, defeating world No. 1, Ashleigh Barty, and made quarterfinals at the Madrid Open, defeating world No. 2, Naomi Osaka. In 2023, she reached her first major final at the French Open and her first WTA 1000 final at the Cincinnati Open. In 2026, she won her first WTA 1000 title at the Qatar Ladies Open and reached her second major final at the Wimbledon Championships.
Karolína Muchová was born in August 1996 in Olomouc, Czech Republic. Her father is former Czech footballer Josef Mucha. He introduced her to tennis at the age of seven. She also has a brother, with whom she did many sports when they were kids. Since there were tennis courts near her home, she decided to pick up a tennis racquet, and then when she was about 12, she chose tennis over handball. In 2019, she moved to Prague to train at the I. ČLTK Prague. She stated that her tennis idol growing up was Roger Federer. She struggled with a lot of injuries during her junior years.
Muchová began playing on the ITF Women's Circuit in October 2013 at the age of 17. Her first tournament was a $10k event in Dubrovnik, where she reached the second round. In July the following year, she won her first ITF title in Michalovce, Slovakia. She then started to produce low-performances until March 2016, when she won her second singles title at Sharm El Sheikh, and two weeks later another event at the same venue. In July 2017, Muchová reached the final of the $75k ITS Cup in Olomouc, losing there to her countrymate Markéta Vondroušová. Muchová then made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the 2017 Korea Open after defeating two low-ranked players, and then lost in the first round of the main draw to Priscilla Hon. Ranked No. 202, Muchová made her main-draw debut at a major event at the 2018 US Open winning three qualifying matches. After winning her opening-match against Dayana Yastremska, Muchová upset two-time Grand Slam champion and No. 12 Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round to score her first top-20 victory, advancing to the third round of the tournament. In the third round, she lost to No. 17 Ashleigh Barty.
Muchová made her main-draw debut at the Australian Open after qualifying. She lost in the first round to No. 8 Karolína Plíšková. Still after qualifying, Muchová made her main-draw debut at the Premier events at the Qatar Open. She defeated lucky loser Samantha Stosur and Hsieh Su-wei to reach her first Premier-level quarterfinal. She lost in the quarterfinals to No. 7 Elina Svitolina in straight sets. Still after qualifying, she debuted at the Premier Mandatory events at the Miami Open. She defeated qualifier Nao Hibino before losing to No. 4 Angelique Kerber. Muchová received a wildcard into the Prague Open where she defeated qualifier Iga Świątek, Jennifer Brady, Natalia Vikhlyantseva, and Bernarda Pera to reach her first WTA Tour final. In the final, she lost to qualifier Jil Teichmann in three sets. Nevertheless, her ranking rose to No. 74. At the French Open, she defeated No. 17 Anett Kontaveit before losing to Irina-Camelia Begu.
At the Wimbledon Championships, Muchová defeated Aleksandra Krunić, Madison Brengle, and No. 20 Anett Kontaveit to reach the fourth round. She defeated No. 3 Karolína Plíšková in a match that went to a third-set tiebreak and lasted three hours to claim her first top 10 victory and reach her first major quarterfinal. She lost in the quarterfinals to No. 8 Elina Svitolina in straight sets. Reaching the quarterfinals, she reached a career-high ranking of No. 43. At the US Open, Muchová defeated qualifier Elena Rybakina and No. 28 Hsieh Su-wei, before losing to No. 8 Serena Williams. At the Korea Open, Muchová beat Alison Van Uytvanck, qualifier Timea Babos, qualifier Priscilla Hon, and Wang Yafan to reach her second WTA Tour final in which she defeated Magda Linette in straight sets to claim her first career title. At the Kremlin Cup, Muchová eliminated Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 21 Donna Vekić, and Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach the semifinals, before losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets. At the end of the season, Muchová qualified for the WTA Elite Trophy for the first time. She defeated Sofia Kenin and Alison Riske to make the semifinals where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka, in straight sets. She finished the year as world No. 21.
In 2020, Muchová produced rather mixed results. At the Australian Open, she defeated Kirsten Flipkens, before losing to CiCi Bellis. At the Dubai Championships, she lost in the first round to qualifier Kateřina Siniaková. At the Qatar Ladies Open, she defeated Magda Linette but lost to No. 6, Kiki Bertens. After the six month suspension of the WTA Tour due to COVID-19 pandemic, Muchová first played at the Cincinnati Open and beat qualifier Ann Li, before losing to No. 10 Naomi Osaka. Her best performance of the season came at the US Open. She beat Venus Williams, Anna Kalinskaya, and Sorana Cîrstea to reach the fourth round, where she lost to No. 27 Victoria Azarenka in three sets. At the French Open, she lost in the first round to Christina McHale. At the Ostrava Open, she defeated Zhang Shuai, before losing to No. 21 Elise Mertens. However, she spent the whole year inside the top 30.
