{"id":138560,"date":"2026-07-11T15:10:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T21:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/linda-noskova-recovers-from-2nd-set-meltdown-to-win-wimbledon-and-claim-her-1st-grand-slam-title\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T15:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T21:12:19","slug":"linda-noskova-recovers-from-2nd-set-meltdown-to-win-wimbledon-and-claim-her-1st-grand-slam-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/linda-noskova-recovers-from-2nd-set-meltdown-to-win-wimbledon-and-claim-her-1st-grand-slam-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Noskova’s glimpse of Wimbledon trophies on bathroom break helped her regroup to claim 1st Grand Slam"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Linda
Linda Noskova of Czech Republic poses with the trophy after winning against Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic in the women's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Kirsty Wigglesworth)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kirsty Wigglesworth)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LONDON (AP) \u2014 Linda Noskova placed fingers in both of her ears to drown out the noise from the Centre Court crowd.<\/p>\n

She draped one of Wimbledon\u2019s<\/a> strawberry-red towels over her head.<\/p>\n

And eventually \u2014 after she had wasted five match points and a 5-2 lead and conceded the second set of a drama-filled final \u2014 she left the court completely for a bathroom break.<\/p>\n

During Noskova’s brief time off the court, two shiny objects caught her attention: the Venus Rosewater Dish that is awarded to the women’s champion and the smaller dish for the runner-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018I\u2019m not going to take the small one. I\u2019m taking the big one. I have been so close. This will probably be the heartbreak of my life,\u2019\u201d Noskova said. “‘I\u2019m going to leave my soul on court in the third set, whatever that be.’\u201d<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old Noskova did just as she promised herself, overcoming her second-set meltdown to beat Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in an all-Czech final<\/a> for her first Grand Slam trophy on Saturday.<\/p>\n

When Noskova finally finished it off with a service winner on her sixth match point \u2014 and first of the third set \u2014 she covered her face and dropped down to the grass on her back.<\/p>\n

Minutes later, Noskova was being awarded the Venus Rosewater Dish by Kate, the Princess of Wales<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never easy to get the last point,\u201d Noskova said during her victory speech. \u201cKaro, you really made me work for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noskova became the third Czech woman in four years to win the grass-court major, after Marketa Vondrousova<\/a> in 2023 and Barbora Krejcikova<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n

Muchova and Noskova played doubles together at the 2024 Paris Olympics and finished fourth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so glad that I could play my first Grand Slam final with you,\u201d Noskova told Muchova during her speech. \u201cWe made history today. All our Czech fans at home are proud of us no matter the result. It was a good day for both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petra Kvitova, who won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, was in attendance, as was the greatest Czech-born player of them all, Martina Navratilova \u2014 who won a record nine singles titles at the All England Club and was seated next to Princess Kate in the Royal Box; and Jan Kodes, the 1973 champion.<\/p>\n

Kipling\u2019s poem<\/strong><\/p>\n

An excerpt of the poem \u201cIf\u201d by Rudyard Kipling that was placed above the players\u2019 entrance to Centre Court more than a century ago summarizes the challenges Noskova had to overcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can meet with triumph and disaster,\u201d the excerpt says. \u201cAnd treat those two imposters just the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

It’s not the first time that Noskova has had to overcome adversity at Wimbledon.<\/p>\n

Her mother died just before she played the tournament two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely would not be standing here without her, so thank you,\u201d Noskova said in a dedication to her mother during her speech when she blew a kiss skyward.<\/p>\n

Navratilova wiped away tears listening to Noskova’s tribute.<\/p>\n

Moments earlier, Muchova began her runner-up speech by calling Noskova \u201cmy ex-friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m kidding, obviously,\u201d Muchova quickly added. \u201cYou\u2019re so young and this was your first final of a Grand Slam and the way you handled it … was really unbelievable. … You deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the 29-year-old Muchova’s second Grand Slam final after getting beat by Iga Swiatek at the French Open in 2023.<\/p>\n

Wasted chances<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blasting aces and winners from all over the court early on, Noskova looked like she was going to run away with it almost like Swiatek’s 6-0, 6-0 rout of Amanda Anisimova in last year’s final<\/a>, which lasted all of 57 minutes.<\/p>\n

Saturday’s match was just 68 minutes old when Noskova earned her first match point \u2014 which ended when she landed a backhand into the net.<\/p>\n

Two points later, there was another backhand miss from Noskova; then Muchova took advantage of a net-cord shot on Noskova’s third match point in the same game.<\/p>\n

Serving for the title in the next game, Noskova double faulted on her fourth match point. And then on the fifth occasion to end it, Muchova produced a big serve and forehand winner.<\/p>\n

In all, Noskova lost five straight games.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to watch,\u201d Tracy Austin said on the BBC as she called the match alongside John McEnroe. \u201cWe know what that feels like when you start to get tight and you can\u2019t loosen up and then the lead starts to unravel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noskova said, \u201cWinning it this way, really having to fight for it, having all these ups and downs, it matters a lot. I have to learn a lot from this match.”<\/p>\n

Czech success<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s Noskova\u2019s second grass title of the season after beating Jessica Pegula in the Berlin Open final.<\/p>\n

But as this match displayed, it hasn\u2019t been all straightforward. Noskova saved a match point in the third set of her third-round match against Sorana Cirstea.<\/p>\n

The 12th-ranked Noskova will climb to No. 7 \u2014 a new career-high \u2014 when the next rankings are released on Monday.<\/p>\n

She’s the youngest woman to win Wimbledon since Kvitova was also 21 in 2011.<\/p>\n

Jana Novotna, one of Noskova\u2019s first coaches, also won Wimbledon (in 1998).<\/p>\n

How to explain all the Czech success?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey play on clay in the summer where you have to out-maneuver your opponent and then in the winter they go indoors and it\u2019s first-strike tennis,\u201d Austin said. \u201cThe best of both worlds to create an all-court player.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the men\u2019s final<\/a> on Sunday, top-ranked Jannik Sinner<\/a> will attempt to defend his title against French Open champion Alexander Zverev<\/a>.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP tennis: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/tennis<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Linda
Linda Noskova of Czech Republic reacts after winning against Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic in the women's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Kirsty Wigglesworth)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kirsty Wigglesworth)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Linda
Linda Noskova of Czech Republic receives the champion trophy from Britain's Princess Kate after defeating Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic the women's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Kin Cheung)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kin Cheung)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Linda
Linda Noskova of Czech Republic reacts as she heads towards her chair after losing the second set against Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic in the women's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Kirsty Wigglesworth)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kirsty Wigglesworth)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Linda
Linda Noskova of Czech Republic, back to the camera, and Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic hug each other at the end of the women's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Kirsty Wigglesworth)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kirsty Wigglesworth)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linda Noskova of Czech Republic poses with the trophy after winning against Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic in the women's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Kirsty Wigglesworth)(AP Photo\/Kirsty Wigglesworth) LONDON (AP) \u2014 Linda Noskova placed fingers in both of her ears to drown out the noise from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-138560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138584,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138560\/revisions\/138584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138560"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=138560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}