Wimbledon: Linda Noskova wins maiden Grand Slam title with epic victory over Czech compatriot Karolina Muchova
tags:Linda Noskova sealed her maiden Grand Slam title as she became the third Czech women's Wimbledon champion in four years with victory over compatriot Karolina Muchova on Saturday - but only after overcoming a major wobble.
Noskova followed fellow Czech champions Marketa Vondrousova in 2023 and Barbora Krejcikova in 2024 in lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish on Centre Court with a 6-2 5-7 6-3 success against Muchova - after regrouping from a second-set collapse.
At 21, Noskova became the youngest Wimbledon champion since her fellow Czech Petra Kvitova in 2011, sealing victory on her sixth Championship point.
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Yet another different Wimbledon winner
Since Serena Williams last won the title in 2016, Wimbledon has produced a different champion every single year.
Garbine Muguruza - 2017
Angelique Kerber - 2018
Simona Halep - 2019
Not held in 2020 (Covid-19)
Ashleigh Barty - 2021
Marketa Vondrousova - 2023
Barbora Krejcikova - 2024
Iga Swiatek - 2025
Linda Noskova - 2026
"It feels incredible. All of these matches have been so tough physically and mentally, today especially. It's never easy to get the last point," Noskova said after collecting the trophy.
"Karo, you really made me work for it! I'm so glad I could play my first Grand Slam with you. We made history today.
"All our Czech fans at home will be proud of us, so no matter the result, it was a good day for both of us."
How Noskova came close to throwing it away....
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Ninth seed Noskova looked set for an easy win as she led 6-2 5-2 but had to endure an astonishing fightback from Muchova before finally prevailing to claim her first Grand Slam title.
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It was another former Czech champion, the late Jana Novotna, that came to mind when Noskova blew her lead in the second set and five match points to send the contest to a decider.
Novotna's tears on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent after she squandered an apparently decisive advantage against Steffi Graf in the 1993 final remains one of Wimbledon's most famous moments.
Novotna had to wait until 1998 for her cathartic winning moment but somehow Noskova banished the demons in her head as she regained control to forge 5-2 ahead in the third set.
The 29-year-old Muchova pulled one game back as the shadows crept across the court but when Noskova was asked to serve for the match for a second time, she made no mistake to claim her first Grand Slam title.
After bringing up another two match points, well over an hour after her first one, she banged down an unreturnable serve before collapsing to the court in relief as much as joy.
Kvitova, who won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, was in attendance, as was the greatest Czech-born player of them all, Martina Navratilova - who won a record nine singles titles at the All England Club.
Who is Linda Noskova?
Noskova made her WTA qualifying debut in Prague in 2020.
She won the 2021 French Open girls' singles title and finished the season with a 38-9 win-loss record, capturing four ITF Circuit titles, including a W60 event in Prerov, Czech Republic.
Started her professional career on the ITF circuit in 2022, winning six titles.
She broke into the top 100 on August 1, 2022, after a semi-final run in Prague, becoming the youngest player in the rankings by overtaking Coco Gauff.
In a breakthrough 2023 season, Noskova finished runner-up at Adelaide 1 as a qualifier, losing to Aryna Sabalenka, and at Prague, where she lost to Nao Hibino. She also reached the quarter-finals in Lyon and the third round at Indian Wells and Cincinnati, breaking into the top 40 in October 2023.
Noskova reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final at the 2024 Australian Open, where she upset then world No 1 Iga Swiatek in the third round before losing to Dayana Yastremska.
She also won her maiden WTA singles title at Monterrey in the same year, defeating Lulu Sun in the final. She also reached the semi-finals in Prague and Brisbane.
In 2025, she reached three tour finals — her first WTA 1000 final in Beijing, where she lost to Amanda Anisimova, plus Prague and Tokyo — made her top 20 debut and ended the season at a career-high year-end No 13.
This was Noskova's eighth career WTA singles final.
Noskova is the fourth player since 2020 to reach their first Grand Slam singles final at Wimbledon, joining Elena Rybakina, Ons Jabeur and Amanda Anisimova.
She defeated Muchova in the Wimbledon final to become the youngest player to win Wimbledon since Petra Kvitova in 2011.
'Linda, my ex-friend!'
A tearful Muchova said: "It's really tough to find any words.
"Linda, my ex-friend! I'm kidding obviously, kind of! You're so young and this is your first Grand Slam final and the way you handled it and played was unbelievable.
"You're a very kind person and human being, so congratulations to you and your team.
"I'm really glad to be standing here even though I'm pretty disappointed now.
"When I look to my corner, I have all my friends and family who cancelled their plans and came here for me. I appreciate them all.
"I'll be fighting, fighting more and I want that trophy and I hope I get the chance to get to the final again and I will come back."
Tale of the Tape: Noskova vs Muchova
It marks the second consecutive Grand Slam won by a player 21 or younger after Mirra Andreeva claimed the French Open at 19 last month. It's the first time that's happened at the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year since Justine Henin and Serena Williams, respectively, claimed those titles in 2003.
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