Few players make the whole toolbox look this natural. Karolina Muchova blends heavy groundstrokes with drop shots, sliced backhands and genuine volleys, an all-court game that carried the Czech to the 2023 Roland Garros final, where she pushed Iga Swiatek to a deciding set, 2-6, 7-5, 4-6, and to a career-high No. 8 that September. Then the right wrist that had troubled her for years gave way during her US Open semi-final run, and the rise stopped mid-sentence.
Surgery in February 2024 kept her out for ten months; she returned that June and was back in the US Open semi-finals within three months of her first match. The fuller reward waited until 2026. At 29 she won Doha, her first WTA 1000 title, added a grass-court crown in Bad Homburg, and climbed back into the top ten. At Wimbledon that July she reached a second Grand Slam final, saving a match point against Coco Gauff in the semi-final and five championship points in the final itself, before Linda Noskova closed it out 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. The wrist has shaped her career as much as the talent has, and every healthy season keeps showing what the talent is worth.
Five hundred and eighty. That is the ranking of Thea Frodin, the wildcard who opens the US Open against second seed Elena Rybakina. The women's singles draw was made today, ahead of the tournament's start on 30 August, with top seed Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1 and defending champion, opening against Camila Osorio.
Draw taleFive. That is where Iga Swiatek stands on the WTA rankings after Toronto, up three from 8, and her climb moved Mirra Andreeva, Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova down one each, to 6, 7 and 8.
Ranking tale