Karolina Muchova has revealed the appearance of an ex-boyfriend led to her tearful break in play at the US Open.
The women’s singles 11th seed cut an emotional figure during her 7-6 [7-0] 6-7 [3-7] 6-4 second round win against Sorana Cirstea last week.
Muchova was serving when trailing 4-1 in the first set and appeared to be upset by something in the crowd at the Grandstand court.
The 29-year-old briefly wiped away tears before holding her serve, and then held up her hand to apologise for the delay.
Muchova would later use a towel to wipe her face and, despite the emotion, book her place in the third round of the tournament.
As translated by The Athletic, the Czech star explained why she had to pause the match against Cirstea.
“Well… it wasn’t tennis-related,” she said after her victory. “So l don’t really like talking about it.
“But opposite my bench, my ex-boyfriend sat down. He sometimes shows up at places where he shouldn’t be.
“That startled me a bit. I told him to leave, he didn’t, but later he did go. It was hard to focus in that moment.”
“Yeah, I’m alright,” she then said after he third round win over Linda Noskova. “I didn’t make any report and everything is good.”
Crowd issues in 2025
At the Dubai Tennis Championship in February, Muchova was playing against Emma Raducanu when the Brit became visibly emotional.
It was revealed that Raducanu spotted a man in the crowd who had ‘exhibited fixated behaviour’ towards her the day before.
The 2021 US Open champion appeared to hide behind the umpire’s chair, with Muchova comforting her as the man was ejected.
Dubai Police said the individual was detained, but Raducanu did not press charges.
Raducanu later said: “I saw him in the first game of the match and I was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to finish’.
“I literally couldn’t see the ball through tears. I could barely breathe. I was like, ‘I need to just take a breather’.”
The same man, who was given a restraining order, was then caught trying to buy tickets for Wimbledon during the summer.
Security at the All England Club spotted his name in the public ballot and it was blocked from the system.