Who's the real “Baby Federer?” It might be Karolina Muchova

NEW YORK—First, there was Richard Gasquet, the original high-skill player dubbed, “Baby Federer.” Then came Baby Federer 2.0, in the form of Grigor Dimitrov. But neither man has put paid to the nickname by appearing in a Grand Slam final, never mind winning 20 of them.

It may not have occurred to anyone, but the most legitimate claimant to the mantle of Federer is a 28-year old, injury-ravaged native of Olomouc, Czechia who plays on the WTA Tour, Karolina Muchova.

On Wednesday at the US Open, Muchova advanced to the fourth Grand Slam semifinal of her career. Fighting a stomach virus (it forced her to unexpectedly leave the court for a bathroom break at one point) as well as Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia and her left-handed juju, Muchova won in an hour and 25-minutes, 6-1, 6-4.

This is a woman who has every shot in the book, including one that Federer did not: a stinging two-handed backhand. She is so smooth her middle name ought to be “Butter.” Muchova is light on her feet and her stroke production, from sliced backhands to high-kicking serves, radiates the same elegance that helped make Federer a household name. But there the comparison ends.

If Muchova has yet to join the elite cadre of Czech Grand Slam tennis champions, it may be because of her frailty. She’s been plagued by injury since her junior days, her career a collection of impressive fragments strewn about the calendar like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

“I don’t even like to talk about injuries,” Muchova said after her win, when asked how she manages to bounce back from them. “But yeah, it depends what kind of injury. I’ve been through a lot of them. This last one, the wrist surgery, was one of the worst ones that I had.”

🎥 WATCH BELOW: Karolína Muchova discusses her idol, Roger Federer, at the 2023 Mutua Madrid Open ⤵️

Wrist injuries can be career killers; players are terrified of them. Just ask 2020 US Open champ Dominic Thiem, who retired from Grand Slam tennis here just last week, unable to recoup his confidence and wrist-heavy game after his own bout of surgery.

“When I go back to [this] February,” Muchova said, “I have to say I wasn’t always that positive. It was tough moments, honestly, when I couldn’t move my arm and couldn’t do much. Now, looking back, I’m like, ‘Oh, it actually flew by, the time,’ and I feel strong again.”

Muchova’s wrist began acting up again last year at Flushing Meadows, where she lost in the semifinals to Coco Gauff. It hampered her and ultimately forced her to leave the tour and undergo surgery in February. She was off the tour—for the umpteenth time, it seemed—until June, and had only 12 matches leading into this tournament.

There was scant evidence of rust in Muchova’s performance today. Haddad Maia is a formidable ball striker, who stands 6’1” and lacks only a higher level of consistency to be even more dangerous than her ranking of No. 21 suggests. She’s also the first Brazilian woman to reach the US Open quarterfinals since Maria Bueno, 56 years ago. That all helps account for the sudden flowering of yellow jerseys with green trim all over Arthur Ashe Stadium, and the Carnival atmosphere they tried to stimulate.

But Muchova put the kibosh on all that from the outset. She held with ease to open the match and then broke Haddad Maia in a long game featuring five deuces. Haddad Maia finally surrendered that game with a forehand unforced error, and the floodgates were open. By the time the Brazilian contained the damage inflicted by Muchova’s variety and athleticism, the match was well into the second set.

Haddad Maia made some inroads in the second set, enough to make you wonder if Muchova’s shortage of matches this year might become a factor. But despite having trouble with the sun (at noon, it can be brutal for a right-hander at one end of Ashe stadium, while the other end is in shadow), Muchova kept her composure and maintained a high level of execution.

Muchova broke Haddad Maia to take a 3-2 lead with serve in the second set, only to see her opponent break right back. But any sense that this might become a competitive match dissolved as Muchova broke serve again, then ran out the remaining games and ended it with an ace.

She is so smooth her middle name ought to be “Butter.”

It’s striking how Muchova can rekindle her game and find such a high level of play with no signs of the staleness or vulnerability that players coming off significant injury or long layoffs dread. The answer may lay less with excellent coaching or confidence, or Muchova’s natural understanding of the game, than her simple love for it.

When she was asked how she knows she’s found her A-game again, she said: “It’s the feeling, and it’s the confidence when I hit. Basically, when I’m aggressive on the court and hitting winners down the line, going to the net when I feel confident to do that. When I start to win those points, they kind of, yeah, give me a good feeling on the court, and then I trust my shots and I would say then it kind of creates my game.”

Sure it sounds a little mysterious, but Roger Federer would understand.