Muchova, Noskova Set All-Czech Wimbledon Women's Final

WIMBLEDON/WASHINGTON, July 9, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

On a 90-degree (Fahrenheit) day with no breeze in sight, the last four players remaining in the Wimbledon Championships women’s singles draw all had a common goal when they walked out on Centre Court at the All England Club Thursday afternoon: a place in their first Wimbledon final.

First, No. 7 seed Coco Gauff of the United States, a 22-year-old American who broke through during her mid-teens and already has won two Grand Slams, faced No. 10 seed Karolina Muchova, a 29-year-old from Czechia looking to advance to her second Grand Slam final. Throughout their respective London fortnights, Muchova gave every appearance that she’s a natural on grass, while Gauff still has been trying to master the surface.

The second semifinal featured No. 12 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, 24, one of the top players in the women’s game this year after garnering wins in 20 of her last 21 matches, and 21-year-old Linda Noskova of Czechia, seeded ninth, in a match-up of two fine grass-court players each looking to reach their first major final.

Both Czech players, Muchova and Noskova, were making their Centre Court debuts.

Gauff, the last American standing in either the women’s and men’s singles draw, came in having enjoyed her best Wimbledon run of her career. Earlier this week, she beat No. 11 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland – and the 11 p.m. Wimbledon curfew by exactly two minutes – then eliminated American No. 1 and fourth seed Jessica Pegula in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. She hoped to become the first American since Serena Williams in 2016 to win a Wimbledon title.

Meanwhile, Muchova eliminated fellow Czech and 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the round of 16, then overwhelmed two-time major champion Naomi Osaka of Japan in straight sets to advance to the semifinals.

Although Gauff had won six of their last seven meetings, in their most recent head-to-head, Muchova beat the American No. 2 on clay at Stuttgart last April. With a well-rounded attack that included pure-hit groundstrokes from the baseline as well as a nice feel at the net, the smooth-moving Muchova posed a big threat to Gauff.

As it happened, by the end of their two-hour, 35-minute battle, decided by fine margins – between going to the final and going home – Muchova prevailed 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (12-10) to earn the biggest win of her career. After saving a match point, and battling through pain and fatigue – not to mention nerves – Muchova came through when it mattered most. She was exhausted but happy to win the nail-biter. It was her moment to savor.

Now, Muchova has put together 10 straight wins on grass, after recently winning a Wimbledon tune-up at Bad Homburg last month, and her semifinal triumph was her 35th overall victory of the season. The loss was Gauff’s 12th of 2026.

“Thank you. First of all, it sounds really nice to be in the final,” Muchova said during her on-court interview with the BBC. “It was such a big fight. It was a rollercoaster. You’re up and down. In 10 seconds, you have match point and you’re match point down. No time to think, but very nerve-wracking. I’m really kind of shaking, trying to sink it all in. The atmosphere is indescribable.”

From the outset, Muchova jumped out to a double-break 4-1 lead, simply by being the steadier player. She pressured Gauff, who played far from her best, into making an abundance of unforced errors – 12 in all during the opening set – from which the American never recovered. Muchova found her rhythm from the outset and stymied Gauff each time she faced a break point, saving five-for-five. Muchova won the 39-minute opening set 6-2 after striking her first ace and ninth winner overall.

Then, in the second set, after going 0-for-8 in break-point conversions, Gauff fought back. She finally broke Muchova on her ninth try to take a 3-1 lead as the semifinal reached the one-hour mark. Gauff consolidated the break in her next service game to extend her lead to 4-1. Soon, it was a double-break lead for Gauff at 5-1 after finding her rhythm, getting her returns under control and controlling the net. She closed out the 32-minute set 6-1 to send the semifinal to a decider.

With one set to decide the outcome, on serve at 2-1, Gauff saved a couple of break-points, digging back from 15-40 down, to gain deuce. She went on to hold for 2-all. Soon, it was Muchova ahead 4-3, still on serve, as both players hunkered down for the long run and each won some very spirited rallies. The question that begged answering was this: with tension mounting on both sides of the net, who could close out the match and win it?

As the semifinal reached the two-hour mark, Muchova saved a couple of break points and, by a slim margin, held for 5-4. Gauff followed with a hold of her own and it was 5-all. Then, Muchova put away the game with a backhand winner to ensure herself of no worse than a match tie-break to decide the outcome. Gauff held steady and it was on to a 10-point, match tie-break to determine the winner.

In the match tie-break, both players left it all out on the court. First, Muchova jumped out to a 4-1 lead before Gauff won the next two points to narrow the margin at 4-3. Next, Muchova stretched to the limit to hit a forehand winner and followed with a 114 mile-per-hour ace – her third of the match – for a 6-3 lead. Gauff remained relentless in winning the next two points on her serve to pull within one point at 6-5, then pulled even at 6-all after Muchova clipped the net cord with a forehand return that dribbled out of bounds.

At 7-all, Gauff double faulted the lead away to Muchova. With the match on Muchova’s racquet at 8-7, she hit a forehand long that leveled the score at 8-all instead of giving her a match point. Next, Gauff gained a match point of her own at 9-8 after Muchova sailed a third-shot backhand long, but squandered it when she tried to hit a drop shot that flopped into the net. Then, at 9-all, Muchova gained a match point after lobbing a forehand winner over Gauff that landed inside the baseline, but soon Gauff leveled it at 10-all. Later, Muchova gained her second match point at 11-10 with another forehand winner. Finally, she put away the semifinal victory on Gauff’s second serve, winning an 11-shot rally that capped an 81-minute final set.

Although Muchova was outpointed 98-95, she finished with 31 winners to 32 unforced errors, compared to 32 winners and 35 unforced errors by Gauff. Muchova saved 11 of 13 break points she faced from Gauff and converted two of six break points against the two-time major champion.

Looking back, Muchova showed her versatility throughout the semifinal. She managed her emotions best at the end of the match tie-break, then allowed herself to bury her face in her towel after sharing a hug at the net with Gauff. Now, after gaining her 21st Top-10 win in her career, she’s into her second major final after reach the title 2023 French Open title match.

“There are so many of us tennis players. I don’t think many of us get the chance to play on this court,” Muchova said. “It’s such a history of our sport. It’s incredible. Very special moment. … It’s a nice moment to experience all of this. The court is beautiful.”

Later, during her post-match news conference, Muchova described her semifinal victory over Gauff as an “unbelievable fight. I’m just trying to enjoy the moment.”

Despite losing, Gauff said in her news conference: “There’s a lot of positives. Obviously, I got super close. I’m definitely going to think about the second, third, last point, whatever. But overall, I think it was a positive tournament for me. A match for sure to remember.”

Noskova wins with easy power, tremendous poise

In the second semifinal, Noskova marched to a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Kostyuk in one hour and 19 minutes.

A double fault from Kostyuk and a tight first set favored Noskova, who broke her Ukrainian opponent on set point to win it 6-4. Then, Noskova, who has won more matches on grass in the past two years than another other player on the WTA Tour (19), broke to go ahead 3-1 in the second set, and displayed her easy power and tremendous poise in closing out the semifinal victory in straight sets.

Although Noskova hit just six winners to 17 unforced errors, she converted three of six break points and controlled the net by winning 15 of 18 exchanges. She outpointed Kostyuk 67-55 by staying tough and focused in all the important moments. It was her 26th victory of the season and 11th win in her last 12 matches.

Looking ahead to Saturday, it will be a first-time major final Wimbledon for both Muchova and Noskova – and an all-Czech final. The Czech ladies love affair, which dates back to Martina Navratilova 48 years ago when she won her first Wimbledon singles title in 1978, continues.

“Karolina is such a great fighter, such an incredible player,” Noskova said during her on-court interview with the BBC. “Mainly and mostly, she’s a great person. I’m glad I get to play my first final with her.”

Arevalo and Ostapenko win Wimbledon mixed doubles title

The mixed doubles final on Centre Court, which took place after the women’s singles semifinals, was won by No. 2 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, who rallied from a set down to defeat Marc Polmans and Storm Hunter of Australia, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, in one hour and 56 minutes.

Arevalo, 35, and Ostapenko, 29, combined to hit 10 aces and outpointed their opponents 97-80.

It was the first Grand Slam mixed doubles title for both Arevalo and Ostapenko. Ostapenko previously was a Wimbledon mixed doubles finalist and Arevalo reached the mixed doubles final of the 2021 US Open.

Arevalo has won two French Open men’s doubles titles, in 2022 with Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands and in 2024 with Mate Pavic of Croatia.

Ostapenko won the 2017 French Open singles title and in 2024 teamed with Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine to win the US Open title.

Around the All England Club

• The men’s doubles semifinals took place on No. 1 Court Thursday afternoon. Now, the final is set. In the first semifinal, No. 6 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia defeated No. 7 seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz of Germany, 7-6 (8), 6-2, in one hour and 38 minutes. Arevalo and Pavic outpointed their opponents 72-64.

In the second semifinal, No. 1 seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain, who won the 2024 Wimbledon title, beat alternates Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia and Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (8), in two hours and nine minutes. The winners combined to serve 11 aces and outpointed their opponents 89-85.

• In women’s doubles, the last two quarterfinals took place on No. 2 Court on Thursday. First, No. 1 seeds Katerina Siniakova of Czechia and Taylor Townsend of the United States, who won the 2024 Wimbledon title, were upset by No. 10 seeds Hanyu Guo of China and Kristina Mladenovic of France, 7-6 (8), 7-5.

Later, in the second match, Xinyu Jiang and Yifan Xu of China went the distance to defeat Ingrid Neel of Estonia and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.

• Friday’s order of play on Centre Court for the men’s singles semifinals begins at 1:30 p.m. London Time with 114th-ranked British wild card Arthur Fery facing World No. 3 and second seed Alexander Zverev of Germany. Then, World No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner of Italy will face seven-time Wimbledon champion and this year’s No. 7 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Thursday’s Wimbledon results

Friday’s Wimbledon order of play

By the numbers

• With both Czechs, Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova, winning their respective semifinals, it’s the first time two women representing the same nation have reached the final at a Grand Slam since 2017 at the US Open, which featured Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys of the United States.

• Karolina Muchova is the fourth woman competing for Czechia in the Open Era to make the semifinals at all four Grand Slam events after Hana Mandlikova, Jana Novotna and Karolina Pliskova.

“Quotable …”

“I’ve always believed in myself and believed that I could, yeah, be a top player in the world. Yeah, obviously a semifinalist of Wimbledon is something else.

“I’ve taken it match by match. I haven’t looked ahead. I’ve just played every match as it is. Yeah, here I am.”

– Wimbledon wild card Arthur Fery of England, during his post-match news conference Wednesday after becoming the first wild card to reach the Wimbledon men’s singles semifinals since Goran Ivanesevic of Croatia in 2001.

Muchova, Noskova Set All-Czech Wimbledon Women’s Final

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