Did Karolina Muchova break down in tears at US Open? Tennis player pauses game as her ex unexpectedly shows up in crowd

Karolina Muchova recently created headlines after she became emotional due to the appearance of her ex-boyfriend at the US Open. Notably, the breakdown happened last week. She later told the press on August 30, 2025, that everything was fine and that she had not reported anything yet.

The tennis player broke down in tears on Thursday, August 28, while she was playing against Sorana Cirstea, as per the New York Post. Muchova could not focus on the game for some time as she froze and cleaned her face with a towel.

However, Karolina later apologized for the pause to the chair umpire and continued playing at one point. She also managed to emerge as the winner and played another match with Linda Noskova two days later.

Karolina Muchova told the reporters that she cannot confirm whether she will go through the same situation again in the future. Addressing the moment when she became emotional, Karolina said that it was not associated with tennis in any manner, as she spoke at a press conference. She recalled the experience by saying:

“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.”

The New York Post stated that Karolina did not request that any particular person be restricted from getting the tickets for her match, despite that the facility for the same is available.

In another statement to tenisovysvet.cz, the WTA player said that she was scared for a brief period when her ex-boyfriend appeared at the place. However, she expressed her relief about the fact that the situation did not take a worse turn, as she stated:

“There was something there. I’m happy with how I handled it. The first set was a little harder for me to concentrate, but then I got back into the rhythm and fought for every ball.”

Karolina Muchova speaks about her experience of playing with Linda Noskova

As previously mentioned, the Olomouc, Czech Republic native played against Linda Noskova. Karolina managed to dodge some points in the third and fifth games of the second set after leading 3-0 in the first set, as stated by the US Open.

Notably, both of them played doubles at the Paris Olympics last year. Karolina also praised Noskova during her conversation with the reporters after the match.

“[Linda] is such a nice girl. It’s never nice to play a friend, but in tennis, it is what it is. It’s a shame we had to play in the third round, but I’m happy I advanced today," Muchova said.

She is also making her eighth appearance at the US Open this time. Muchova additionally told the reporters that she likes to play in New York.

“I love the city, the people, the energy, everything about it. I played all three matches very close. I’m happy I’m still standing and I’ll fight to get to another round," Muchova also said.

Meanwhile, Karolina has won another match against Marta Kostyuk on September 1, 2025 to reach the quarterfinals.