Linda Noskova set up an all-Czech women’s final with her countrywoman Karolina Muchova after dismantling Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in straight sets.
Noskova is one of the brightest young talents to emerge in women’s tennis in recent years and her self-belief and composure belied her 21 years during her 6-4, 6-4 victory.
On her Centre Court debut, she was hardly fazed by the magnitude of the occasion against Kostyuk, whose service game dramatically deserted her at the sharp end of both sets.
After Muchova edged past Coco Gauff in the day’s earlier semi-final, it means two players representing the same nation will face each other in the women’s final at Wimbledon for the first time since 2009, when Serena and Venus Williams faced off for the Venus Rosewater Dish.
Intriguingly, Noskova and Muchova enjoyed a hit-about on Wimbledon’s main show court before their respective semi-finals – neither of them had played on Centre Court this year. For both, it proved a valuable warm-up act ahead of the main event.
Despite her young age Noskova has already proven herself as a reliable grass-court competitor given she has more victories on the surface than any other player this year and won the Berlin Open last month. Now, there is one last assignment to tick off.
After showing plenty of attacking enterprise in the first set, she made her move leading 5-4, when Kostyuk’s error-strewn game proved costly and she double faulted to hand the Czech woman the set.
Muchova looked to be sailing towards the final after breaking Kostyuk early in the second, but her steely concentration slipped when the Ukrainian, with her business-like bun and efficient movement around the court, finally got going.
From 3-1 down, Kostyuk broke back to reel off three games in a row and stake the possibility of the pair going the distance. The momentum swing, though, was short-lived after she suffered another horror service game trailing 5-4 and when she sprayed a backhand well wide and against the run of play, Noskova pounced. Seizing her opportunity, the Czech woman received two match points with open arms and converted at the second time of asking.
After burying a forehand winner, Noskova stayed in a low crouched position for a prolonged moment on the grass, seemingly in disbelief, as if allowing herself to finally enjoy the moment. It was, in many ways, Czech mate.
More from Noskova
“Karolina is such a great fighter, such an incredible player, but mainly and mostly she is such a great person. So I’m happy I get to play my first final against her.”
Noskova reacts
“A semi-final at a grand slam is never easy, no matter who you play, no matter where you play. I just tried to be as patient as possible, keep cool and somehow I did the last point.
“I always just try to focus on my self, my game. When I play my best, I know I can play with the best players in the world and have a great result, which is a final in a grand slam I guess.”
Kostyuk exits
The winning moment for Noskova
We have our finalists!!
Linda Noskova will join Karolina Muchova in an all-Czech women’s singles final at #Wimbledon 👏 pic.twitter.com/yEdUG1sGYX
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 9, 2026
An all-Czech final to determine the women’s champion
It will be Muchova vs Noskova on Saturday afternoon. And we will have a first time grand slam winner.
Kostyuk* 4-6, 4-6 Noskova
Deep return by Noskova and Kostyuk flicks a backhand wide, 15-30. Kostyuk goes for it down the line but puts her backhand in the tramlines, two match points.
Kostyuk saves the first with a forehand winner. Second chance for Noskova… Wild Kostyuk forehand goes wide.
GAME SET MATCH NOSKOVA!!
Kostyuk 4-6, 4-5 Noskova*
Aside from being broken earlier in the set, Noskova has been in cruise control on serve and she holds easily again to put the pressure back on Kostyuk.
Kostyuk* 4-6, 4-4 Noskova
A little bit of scoreboard pressure here for Kostyuk. She will know that any break of her serve will give Noskova the chance to serve for the match. But credit to her, she is riding the momentum she has earned and holds comfortably again.
Kostyuk 4-6, 3-4 Noskova*
Noskova gets back to business with a service hold to 15. Slight scare for Kostyuk after desperately chasing down a drop shot, runs into her chair. But she appears to be OK.
Kostyuk’s found her groove
Well, I was about to write that Noskova looks in total control of this match. While Kostyuk is celebrating every winner with a fist pump or roar, the ninth seed looks so composed and emotionless.
The Ukrainian pulled out her best shot of this match yet with a piercing backhand return winner, before holding both arms aloft in celebration. She’s found her groove a bit and the crowd, which is rooting for the Ukrainian, voices their approval.
Kostyuk* 4-6, 3-3 Noskova
OK Kostyuk. This is much better. Seeing more control, some slices and forays into the net. She looks very loose and carefree all of a sudden. The tightness of the opening hour seems to have gone. She holds with an emphatic 117mph ace.
Kostyuk 4-6, 2-3 Noskova*
Kostyuk gives herself a chance at 0-30 but once again struggles to get the ball in play when it matters. Kostyuk does get to deuce and finally earns a break point when Noskova puts a mid-court forehand long.
Big return by Kostyuk puts Noskova on the defensive, short reply by Noskova and Kostyuk finishes with a forehand winner. First break of the match for the Ukrainian.
Game on?
Kostyuk* 4-6, 1-3 Noskova
Back-to-back forehand errors from Kostyuk to start the game. A third forehand into the net and it is 0-40. A fourth forehand error by Kostyuk and Noskova gets the easiest break of serve she could ask for.
Kostyuk 4-6, 1-2 Noskova*
Noskova continues to look very composed and secure in her service games. While Kostyuk continues to hit and hope. A very error-strewn performance. She will lose if this goes on. Has to do something different.
Kostyuk will want to forget that horror service game
Kostyuk will want to forget that horror service game at the end of the first set, but fair play to Noskova. She looks locked in and isn’t being overwhelmed by the occasion. After earning three set points, she got the job done early. Can Kostyuk respond in the second set? The Ukrainian marches across the baseline with a business aura but her shot making is lacking its usual high quality.
Must say it is absolutely stifling inside Centre Court, which still isn’t yet full after the epic finale to the Muchova-Gauff match. Lots of fans are flapping about but staggeringly, the place is yet to fill up. So many people are unsuccessful in the ticket ballot for Wimbledon each year. You wonder what they would make of the many empty seats, even the ones in the shade.
Kostyuk* 4-6, 1-1 Noskova
More controlled aggression from Kostyuk needed. Noskova has been far more consistent and is not taking big swings. Fourth ace of the match from Kostyuk to hold.
Second Set: Kostyuk 4-6, 0-1 Noskova*
23 unforced errors in the first set from Kostyuk. Just 11 winners. There’s the reason she is on the back foot here.
Noskova cruises through another service game without facing a break point.
Kostyuk* 4-6 Noskova
Pressure for Kostyuk as Noskova moves to 0-30. Really big chance now as Kostyuk’s error gives Noskova three set points.
Kostyuk saves the first. But not the second as she hits the second double fault of the match. Noskova breaks and takes the set.
Kostyuk 4-5 Noskova*
Noskova answers a love hold with one of her own. This is a very tightly contested first set.
Kostyuk* 4-4 Noskova
Normal service resumes for Kostyuk as she holds to love with a forehand winner. She is winning 79 per cent of points when she gets her first serve. Noskova is at 89 per cent. Impressive.
Noskova is putting huge pressure on Kostyuk’s serve
Noskova is putting huge pressure on Kostyuk’s serve but the Ukrainian is just about keeping her focus. Just as the young Czech woman had break point 3-2 up at 30-40 Kostyuk brought up a huge ace, followed by a rippling forehand winner.
Someone in the crowd at the back of Centre Court lost control of their champagne cork just as Kostyuk had grafted for another advantage. It sounded like it flew up to the roof and caused a bit of a stir, but Kostyuk managed to keep her focus.
Kostyuk 3-4 Noskova*
No such trouble for Noskova as she crashes home her first forehand winner of the match, 40-15. She follows that with her first double fault and holds when Kostyuk is overly ambitious with a forehand and the ball lands in the tramlines.
Kostyuk* 3-3 Noskova
Deep return by Noskova and Kostyuk’s backhand reply is wide. Noskova attempts a deft drop volley and can’t get it over the net, 30-30. Great accuracy from Noskova and a defensive backhand by Kostyuk drops long, break point.
A much-needed ace by Kostyuk saves the day. Noskova continues to look threatening and unwilling to let Kostyuk out of this game.
But the Ukrainian finally gets out of trouble after following up a big serve with an even bigger forehand winner.
The possibility of an all-Czech final awaits
After Karolina Muchova’s thrilling win over Coco Gauff, the possibility of an all-Czech final awaits if Linda Noskova can get the job done here. Interestingly, both Czech women have had to wait until their semi-finals today for their first outing on Centre Court. They had a hit-about here mid-morning to get a feel for the place.
Kostyuk, who was a semi-finalist at this year’s Roland Garros, enjoyed a breakthrough clay court swing after winning back-to-back titles at Rouen and Madrid. Her deep run here at Wimbledon – where she crashed out in the first round last year – suggests she is becoming an excellent student on grass. Despite being the slightly lower seed, I would say she’s the favourite.
That said, Noskova, who won her first grass court title in Berlin last month, has been tipped for the big stage for a while. Her best previous run in a major came in the 2024 Australian Open, when she made the last eight.
Kostyuk 2-3 Noskova*
Kostyuk gets a look at a backhand pass but nets just as Noskova approaches the net, 30-15. Noskova first serve unreturned, 40-30. But she then goes long with a forehand, deuce. Loose shot there.
We move to a third deuce when Noskova sends a backhand long. The Czech is struggling a little bit to get the job done. But she eventually comes through when Kostyuk nets a return.
Kostyuk* 2-2 Noskova
Kostyuk nets a forehand from point-blank range, 30-30. Some subtlety would have helped there. Huge forehand by Noskova is too much for Kostyuk, deuce. Back-to-back unreturned first serves and Kostyuk passes the first test of her serve.
Kostyuk 1-2 Noskova*
Ace down the T by Noskova, 30-0. A love hold sealed with another unreturned serve.
Kostyuk* 1-1 Noskova
Kostyuk knows nothing different from hitting the ball hard. Noskova may have to hang on in the opening stages to get a foothold in the match.
She blasts her way to 40-15 and finishes with a backhand winner.
First Set: Marta Kostyuk 0-1 Linda Noskova* (*denotes server)
After the drama of the first semi, it is half empty on Centre. A lot of the crowd have left to take a break and grab a refreshment.
In the meantime, Noskova does what she needs to do and holds to 15 when Kostyuk flashes a forehand wide.
Here we go!
Time for the second semi-final. Can it live up to the first? Noskova will serve first. Let’s go!!!
Emma Raducanu in US Open fitness race after ‘grade-four’ stress fracture
Emma Raducanu is working towards a possible return from injury at the US Open while fellow Wimbledon absentee Jack Draper has entered the Washington ATP event in a fortnight’s time.
Telegraph Sport understands that Raducanu is suffering from a grade-four level stress fracture in her shin, which means that the injury has developed from a mere “stress reaction” to the point where a line was visible on an MRI scan. It was this evidence that led to her withdrawal from Wimbledon on the eve of her first-round match.
Although rehabilitation could last as long as two months, Raducanu is understood to be doing everything she can to accelerate the process. An appearance at the US Open – which starts on Aug 30 – is not out of the question.
Read the full story here.
An all-Czech final on the cards
Following Karolina Muchova’s victory over Coco Gauff, there is the prospect of two compatriots facing off in Saturday’s final, should Linda Noskova, also of the Czech Republic, triumph this afternoon.
This last happened in the women’s singles in 2009 when Serena Williams beat sister Venus, while it was also an all-American affair when it last occurred in the men’s singles in 1999 as Pete Sampras beat Andre Agassi.
There were three different Czech women in the Wimbledon finals between 2021 and 2024, but they did not come up against each other.
Kostyuk criticises IOC decision on Russia
Marta Kostyuk criticised on Wednesday the decision for Russia’s Olympic ban to be provisionally lifted, with the IOC announcing the move on Tuesday.
“My thoughts are that it’s terrible. I think it’s very, very far from fair play for all the countries involved here, not just for Ukraine,” she said.
“I 100% don’t agree with this decision. But I feel like a lot of people spoke out on this issue. They obviously don’t agree, as well. I don’t think anything is going to change.
“I just want to go out there and hopefully beat every single Russian I play in the Olympics, and that’s it.”
Watch: Muchova overcomes Gauff
She’s done it! Karolina Muchova is through to the Wimbledon final, beating Coco Gauff in a hard-fought match 👏 pic.twitter.com/9wbxT6Roxh
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 9, 2026
Head-to-head
Kostyuk and Noskova have met just once before, in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open earlier this year, and it was the Ukrainian Kostyuk who came out on top, winning 7-6 6-0.
The 24-year-old went on to win the title in the Spanish capital, beating Mirra Andreeva in the final, though the 19-year-old got her revenge in the semi-finals at Roland Garros a month later.
Noskova’s route to the semi-finals
R1: 2-0 vs Seidel
R2: 2-1 vs Osorio
R3: 2-1 vs Cirstea
R4: 2-0 vs Keys
QF: 2-0 vs Mertens
Muchova awaits in the final
The winner of this second semi-final between Marta Kostyuk and Linda Noskova will face Karolina Muchova, who has just beaten Coco Gauff in a thrilling third-set tie break.
Muchova won the opening set 6-2 before the American drew level, taking the second set 6-1.
The third set was a much tighter affair than the previous two, but eventually it was the Czech Muchova who came out on top with a 12-10 win in the tie-break.
Kostyuk’s route to the semi-finals
R1: 2-0 vs Podoroska
R2: 2-1 vs Blinkova
R3: 2-1 vs Navarro
R4: 2-0 vs Krueger
QF: 2-0 vs Paoloini
Kostyuk takes on Noskova for place in the final
Hello and welcome to coverage from Wimbledon on women’s semi-final day. The second match is Marta Kostyuk vs Linda Noskova on Centre Court. For the ninth successive year, there will be a first-time women’s champion.
Czech women have hoisted the Rosewater Dish seven times — including the first two won by Martina Navratilova before she was granted US citizenship in 1981.
That haul by Navratilova, Jana Novotna, Petra Kvitova (two), Marketa Vondrousova and Barbora Krejcikova is more than the combined total of five major women’s titles the country’s players have won at the other three slams since 1968.
“I would say the history that the players before us have always been great. I mean, the Czech tennis female players have always been incredible. If you look at 10 years back, 20, 30, there’s always just been someone,” Noskova said.
“We kind of still keep on going and keep on having great juniors and youngsters coming up. It’s great to see that the country is not stopping tennis.
“But I feel like for me it has always been the fact that us as such a small country, we can definitely do big things in the world if we look up to the people that did it.”
For Kostyuk, she hopes her run will bring some much-needed distraction to her war-ravaged country.
“It’s not easy to disconnect entirely,” she said. “It was really tough for me last week when the first big attack happened. Then on Monday they ruined like four streets of residential buildings. It was like five kilometers away from where my parents live.
“Again, another difficult night and a lot of dead people, innocent people, kids. It’s not easy. I tried to be aware of everything that’s going on. Of course, I try for these things not to influence me too much. Every day is different. I cope with it as it goes.”
O que achou dessa notícia? Deixe um comentário abaixo e/ou compartilhe em suas redes sociais. Assim conseguiremos informar mais pessoas sobre o que acontece no mundo do tênis!
Convidamos você a clicar em Página de Parceiros para conhecer os parceiros do Tênis Portal e acessar seus sites.
Esta notícia foi originalmente publicada em: Fonte original