WIMBLEDON, England — Linda Noskova is the latest in a long line of Czech women to win Wimbledon.
The 21-year-old Noskova bounced back from a disastrous second set loss in which she squandered five match points to defeat Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in the all-Czech final on Saturday to win her first Grand Slam trophy.
When Noskova finally clinched the victory with a service winner on her sixth match point, she covered her face and collapsed onto the grass on her back.
“It’s never easy to get the last point,” Noskova said. “Mr. Caro, you have done a really good job.”
Noskova becomes the third Czech woman to win a grass-court major in the last four years, following Marketa Vondrusova in 2023 and Barbora Krejcikova in 2024.
Muchova and Noskova competed in doubles at the 2024 Paris Olympics, finishing fourth.
Noskova told Muchova in her victory speech: “I’m very happy to be playing my first Grand Slam final with you.” “Today we made history. I think all the Czech fans back home are proud of us. So whatever the result today, I think it was a good day for us.”
Also in attendance were Petra Kvitova, who won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, and Martina Navratilova, the greatest Czech-born player who won a record nine singles titles at the All England Club.
Ms Navratilova watched from the Royal Box, sitting next to Kate, Princess of Wales, who presented Ms Noskova with the Venus Rosewater Dish trophy.
In her victory speech, Noskova became emotional as she mentioned her mother, who passed away two years ago.
“If it wasn’t for her, I definitely wouldn’t be standing here, so thank you,” Noskova said, lifting her head and blowing a kiss to the sky.
Navratilova wiped away tears as she listened to Noskova’s eulogy for her mother.
Moments earlier, Muchova began her runner-up speech by calling Noskova “my former friend.”
“It’s clearly a joke,” Muchova quickly added. “You’re so young and this was your first Grand Slam final and the way you handled it was just incredible. … You deserved it.”
This was the 29-year-old Muchova’s second Grand Slam final after losing to Iga Swiatek at the 2023 French Open.
In Sunday’s men’s final, top-ranked Jannik Sinner will aim to defend his title against French Open champion Alexander Zverev.
wasted chance
Noskova led 5-2 in the second set, but lost five games in a row to advance to the third set.
Noskova wasted a chance to serve out at 5-3 in the second, and during the changeover she put her fingers in her ears to drown out the noise from the crowd. Then, after dropping the serve again to give Muchova a 6-5 lead and giving her opponent a chance to serve out, she pulled a Wimbledon strawberry-red towel over her head — which Muchova did.
This is Noskova’s second turf title of the season, after defeating Jessica Pegula in the Berlin Open final three weeks ago.
But as this match showed, not everything was that simple. Noskova saved a match point in the third set of her third round match against Sorana Cirstea.
When the next rankings are released on Monday, Noskova, who is ranked 12th, will move up to seventh place, a new career high.
One of Noskova’s first coaches, Yana Novotna, also won Wimbledon (1998).
Noskova became the youngest woman to win Wimbledon in 2011, when Kvitova was 21 years old.
This is also the second consecutive Grand Slam victory by a player under the age of 21, after Mira Andreeva won the French Open last month at the age of 19. This is the first time Roland Garros and Wimbledon have happened in the same year since 2003, when Justin Henin and Serena Williams won the titles respectively.
