Iga Swiatek has special message for Karolina Muchova after Czech's brutal 10 months -

Swiatek reacts to Muchova announcing her return to tennis.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek sent out a very classy message to Karolina Muchova as the Polish tennis superstar is happy to see her 2023 French Open final rival being back to action after a very difficult 10-month period.

Muchova, who was one of the best players on the WTA Tour last year, had a heartbreaking end to 2023 after sustaining a right wrist injury during her run to the US Open semifinal. After the US Open, Muchova didn’t manage to recover for the WTA Finals, and after her recovery wasn’t going as planned and she was forced to also miss the start of 2024, the 27-year-old Czech decided to have wrist surgery in February.

Due to several setbacks in her recovery, the 2023 French Open runner-up ended up being sidelined for 10 months – it is way long considering that when the Czech tennis star initially suffered the injury, she was hoping to be able to play again after a short rest and treatment.

But in recent weeks, Muchova has been able to practice without experiencing any major setbacks and now she is ready to start her comeback at next week’s WTA 500 tournament in Eastbourne. If everything goes well in Eastbourne, the Czech former world No. 8 will also make her Grand Slam comeback at Wimbledon.

“10 months out but finally see you at the tournaments. Eastbourne & Wimbledon,” Muchova announced on Thursday.

Muchova’s announcement made many tennis fans happy but also Swiatek, who reacted to the news by writing: “Good to have you back!”

Muchova nearly stunned Swiatek in last year’s French Open final

When the 2023 French Open started, no one really had Muchova as a title contender at Roland Garros. But after kicking off her 2023 French Open campaign with a win against world No. 9 Maria Sakkari, Muchova also recovered from a 2-5 deficit in the semifinal to stun two-time Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka.

In her first French Open final – playing against clay court queen Swiatek – Muchova came close to clinching another upset win as she was 4-3 up in the third set and serving before the Pole responded with back-to-back breaks to escape with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 win.

Moments after sealing the win, Swiatek celebrated vividly and just then it became perfectly clear under how much tension and stress she was put by Muchova.

Afterward, Swiatek acknowledged that she had Muchova’s previous comeback wins in the back of her mind.

“I don’t know. At first I was surprised, because I saw all these matches of Karolina when she was actually coming back from scores like that, before the match point I wasn’t really thinking it’s going to happen now. I just kind of, I just played — I just gave it all. But I was a little bit surprised that it actually happened, you know. She was always coming back,” Swiatek said after edging out Muchova in the 2023 French Open final.

“So I felt like, I don’t know, I don’t know what I felt. It’s hard to describe. But a lot of happiness. I felt suddenly, you know, tired of these three weeks. Maybe my matches weren’t like physically exhausting, but it’s pretty hard to kind of keep your focus for these almost three weeks.”

What Muchova said after falling just short versus Swiatek?

Although Muchova was having a big French Open, Swiatek entered the final as the big favorite and the Pole led 6-2 3-0 after a set and a half. But then, Muchova stunningly came back to force a decider and nearly completed what would have been a huge upset.

“The difference, well, you could see the difference in the first set and a half, I think. I felt I was little slow, I would say, and Iga, obviously she usually has these great starts to the matches, I would say. When she’s on a roll, it’s tough to break in,” Muchova said after the loss.

“But I was trying to continue to change the rhythms and to get her out of the rhythm, and then in the second set, with the one break that I managed there, I came alive a little bit.

“I felt that then in the third set the difference was not so big. We both had chances. Yeah, I didn’t use them as well as she did.”

It will be interesting to see how Muchova’s return in Eastbourne will go and how she will look after being out of tennis for 10 months.

Iga Swiatek has special message for Karolina Muchova after Czech’s brutal 10 months

Muchova nearly stunned Swiatek in last year’s French Open final

What Muchova said after falling just short versus Swiatek?

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