“Not the way I wanted to win”: Karolina Muchova advances in Pan Pacific Open after friend Marketa Vondrousova retires

Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova has expressed her feelings after moving to the second round of the Pan Pacific Open. The 29-year-old cemented a spot in the next round, courtesy of a walkover from her opponent Marketa Vondrousova.

The final score of the match was 6-2, 1-0. After the match, Muchova stated that while she was happy to win the match, it was not the way she wanted to win the contest, especially against a player who is her ‘friend’. Muchova wished her friend best of luck in her recovery from the injury.

"Of course, I'm happy to be in the second round,” said Muchova. “But it's not the way I wanted to win against a good friend, so I feel for her. It's my first time playing here on this court, so I'm glad there are people who have come to support. And, yeah, I just wish Marketa all the best and to get healthy.”

It was Muchova’s second consecutive win against Vondrousova. Earlier, she defeated the former Wimbledon champion in the first round of the Ningbo Open with a score of 6-4, 6-3. Muchova is going through a good season where she has won 24 out of 40 matches and suffered 20 defeats in the process. Those performances pushed her to as high as 21st in the WTA Rankings. However, as things stand, she is still waiting to win her first competition since 2019.

Her best performance this year came during the Dubai Duty Free Championship where she suffered a defeat in the semifinal to Denmark’s Clara Tauson with a score of 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. She also suffered a defeat to Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova in the semifinal of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz in straight sets with a score of 6-0, 6-4.

Muchova’s most recent appearance was at the Ningbo Open where she lost in the second round to Russia’s Diana Shnaider with a score of 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Muchova’s next appearance to Australia’s Maya Joint who cemented her spot in the round of 16 after beating Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic with a score of 1-6, 7-6, 6-2. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two players in professional tennis.