Karolina Muchova is an artist, in more ways than one.

The Czech No.19 seed can manipulate a tennis ball in an infinite number of ways; her delicate touch often an ode to an era gone by. She loves the net, and typically moves up front any chance she gets. She mixes up the pace and can cunningly bring her opponents in, only to punish them with a slick lob. She can unleash a drop shot from well behind the baseline and easily stick the landing.

All that, and more, was on display in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over recent Roland-Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Court 18, where she punched her ticket into the Wimbledon fourth round for the second time in as many appearances.

On her Wimbledon main draw debut two years ago, Muchova marched to the quarter-finals – her best appearance at a Grand Slam at the time. The 24-year-old has since bested that performance by making the semi-finals at the Australian Open five months ago.

“I have just good memories from here,” said Muchova, reflecting on her 2019 run at the Championships.

“It was my first main draw two years ago and it was, I would say, maybe my breakthrough tournament that year, my best result and I really enjoyed grass and I had good matches. It’s really nice to come back here and to see people. I really love it here, it’s special here.”

Off the court, Muchova channels her creativity in music. She plays the piano and the guitar, and sounds like an angel when she sings, although she would never acknowledge just how gifted she is.

“I didn’t do this for a long time, I just bought a guitar a few years back and with the guitar I started to sing a bit. But I don’t really have confidence in it, but I just like to do it, I really enjoy it,” she coyly says when asked if she would ever consider taking music more seriously.

“Maybe in the future… but I don’t have confidence to sing or whatever but I enjoy playing the guitar or any other instrument and I do this to relax and have fun.”

Prior to this Fortnight, Pavlyuchenkova hadn’t won a singles match at Wimbledon since 2016, which is when she had her best result at The Championships by reaching the quarter-finals. She is making her 14th main draw appearance at SW19 and arrived in south-west London fresh off a maiden Grand Slam final showing in Paris.

The Russian, who turned 30 on Saturday, entered the clash with Muchova leading the Czech 2-0 head-to-head.

A see-saw opening set that was interrupted by rain at 2-2 witnessed seven breaks of serve before Muchova finally took the lead in 56 minutes, and needed to serve for the set twice to inch ahead.

The duo also had an erratic start to the second set on serve before Muchova finally found her range, securing a crucial break in game seven en route to a straight-sets victory that spoiled Pavlyuchenkova’s birthday celebrations.

Muchova now awaits the winner of the third round duel between Spanish No.30 seed Paula Badosa and Poland’s Magda Linette.

Click here to join myWimbledon for a range of exclusive benefits, including access to tickets and the ability to personalise your digital experience with us.

Following along from home this year?

You can still experience the classic Wimbledon atmosphere on the Virtual Hill, presented by our Official Partner American Express.

Register now to visit and win daily prizes, including tickets to The Championships 2022.