"Nothing worked for me": Karolina Muchova admits having 'bad day' in thumping defeat to Iga Swiatek at Indian Wells

Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova has admitted that she had a bad day after suffering a thumping defeat against the reigning world number two Poland’s Iga Swiatek. The 28-year-old’s journey in the ongoing Indian Wells came to an end in the round of 16 as she was defeated by a five-time Grand Slam winner in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-1.

In that contest, Swiatek ended up winning 88 percent points on first serve, which was more than double of what Muchova won in the match (43 percent points on first serve). The world number two converted five break points out of 11. On the other hand, Muchova was never in a position to break the serve.

The Olomouc-born star has spoken to C+ after the defeat and admitted that nothing went right for her on the day. "It was a bad day in every way,” she said. “Nothing worked for me. I didn't feel good. Iga played very well, and when she sees some weaknesses on the other side, she presses even harder. I worked on some technical improvements in training, but I didn't show any of them today. I hope they will be seen in Miami.”

On the other hand, Swiatek also spoke to the media after the match and showed support for her opponent, with whom she practised last week. The Warsaw-born star stated that she and Muchova are on similar level and believes that her performance on Tuesday was a one-off. "We practiced last week, and we had a pretty similar level,” she said. “You know, it's tennis. Things like that can happen. But for sure I used to my opportunities and I used to my chances, and I was pretty focused and composed today.”

Swiatek will now face China’s Zheng Qinwen in the quarterfinal of the competition on Thursday. The 22-year-old cemented her spot in the last eight of the competition after beating Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2.