Some of the world's greatest tennis players have emerged from the Czech Republic, and its production of new talent remains undiluted.
The Czech Republic has a long and rich history in tennis, most notably on the WTA Tour, where there is an endless production of new stars gracing the main tour. The most famous names of the last and current decade include Petra Kvitova, Lucie Safarova, Karolina Pliskova, Barbora Krejcikova, and Marketa Vondrousova.
Some of those names have won Grand Slam titles as recently as this year's Wimbledon. Muchova, who came up short in her quest to land one of tennis' coveted four trophies at this year's Roland Garros, uncoiled the best-kept secret.
Karolina Muchova is unsure how and why it happens so frequently but gave two valid reasons for how the Central European nation continues to unearth gems since its peaceful split from Slovakia back in 1993. Muchova, ranked in the world's Top 20, certainly fits the conveyor belt of new Czech talent going to the top.
"Yeah, I don't know. Still the same answer from me. I mean, I think great coaches. The fact that it's so many of us there, the young girls looking up to us. When I was younger, I was looking up to them. You see that you can, that they are there. Why I cannot make it if they are there?"
"If we have a practice, you can see, okay, it's not like something special, and you have that belief. Maybe that. I don't know. With me, I can talk for myself. Yeah, it's great, though. It's unbelievable, yeah."
Muchova believes working under great coaches is one of the central reasons, and the old cliche of looking up to your compatriots is another key driver to spur the young players to achieve the same.
Speaking after reaching her first WTA 1000 final in Cincinnati, Muchova delved into the immense impact of a low-key home club in Prague that has nurtured the likes of Vondrousova and fellow countrywomen since their junior days. The 26-year-old Muchova only joined them about four years ago. She says the place is 'pretty basic', but the buzz around it is great.
"I don't know how long I'm there, like four, five years not even. I joined the club later. Marketa is playing there since she's a junior. I guess since she started to play. It's I would say family club. It feels like a family there. We don't have there anything like too special. I would say it's not like there would be amazing gym or amazing stuff around. It's pretty basic, I would say."
"But the energy is great. I like to hang around. Even with the sport manager, we can always chat. We support each other. Yeah, it's me, Marketa, Tereza Martincova is there. We have some young guns, Bartunkova, if you know maybe. Yeah, it's very I would say low-key club, but it's nice."
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