Czech grew up seeing compatriot Petra Kvitova winning Wimbledon and wanted to copy Roger Federer’s style
It is a question that comes up again and again. Just what is it about the Czech Republic that enables it to produce so many great players? From Martina Navratilova and Hana Mandlikova, back when it was Czechoslovakia, to Petr Korda, Jana Novotna and more recently Petra Kvitova and Barbora Krejcikova, a conveyor belt of grand slam title winners have hailed from a population of just 10.5 million people.
For Karolina Muchova, the latest Czech to reach a grand slam final, at Roland Garros last month, maybe the only tangible reason for the success is the fact that others have blazed a trail. “Maybe it’s because the younger girls practice with us,” she said on the eve of Wimbledon, where she will be the No 16 seed. “When I was younger and there was Karolina [Pliskova] and Petra [Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledon champion], I could practise [with them] and I saw that they can do it. I felt like I can do it too.”