Ranked near the top-150 at this point last year, Karolina Muchova’s rise has been relatively unbelievable as the Czech enjoyed a strong year to make her top-30 debut in 2019, and ultimately sneaking into the WTA Elite Trophy as the last direct qualifier with the help of several withdrawals.
Muchova is currently ranked 26th on the Porsche Race to Shenzhen leaderboard, with a maiden Major quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon being the highlight of her career. Theoretically, only players ranked 9 to 19 were given entry into the tournament but following a couple of withdrawals, notably Serena Williams, Kerber and a couple more, and with Pavlyuchenkova and Goerges both losing their finals during the last weekend, Muchova was able to make her debut in Zhuhai.
The Czech reached the final at the J&T Banka Prague Open as a wildcard entry but rebounded to claim her maiden WTA title at the Korea Open, where she prevailed 6-1, 6-1 in a one-sided final against Linette. She is fresh off a semifinal appearance at the Kremlin Cup and is drawn into the same group as Americans Sofia Kenin and Alison Riske.