Linda Noskova recovers from 2nd-set meltdown to win Wimbledon and claim her 1st Grand Slam title

LONDON (AP) — Linda Noskova is the latest in a long line of Czech women to win Wimbledon.

The 21-year-old Noskova recovered from a second-set meltdown in which she wasted five match points to overcome Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in an all-Czech final on Saturday for her first Grand Slam trophy.

When Noskova finally won it with a service winner on her sixth match point, she covered her face and dropped down to the grass on her back.

Noskova became the third Czech woman in four years to win the grass-court major, after Marketa Vondrousova in 2023 and Barbora Krejcikova in 2024.

Petra 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.

Navratilova looked on from the Royal Box, where she was seated next to Kate, the Princess of Wales, who was due to present the Venus Rosewater Dish trophy to Noskova.

Muchova and Noskova played doubles together at the 2024 Paris Olympics and finished fourth.

In the men’s final on Sunday, top-ranked Jannik Sinner will attempt to defend his title against French Open champion Alexander Zverev.

Wasted chances

Noskova led 5-2 in the second set before she lost five straight games to send it to a third.

When Noskova wasted a chance to serve it out at 5-3 in the second, she placed fingers in both ears to drown out the crowd noise on the changeover. Then she draped one of Wimbledon’s strawberry-red towels over her head after she dropped her serve again to give Muchova a 6-5 lead and a chance for her opponent to serve it out — which Muchova did.

It’s Noskova’s second grass title of the season after beating Jessica Pegula in the Berlin Open final three weeks ago.

But as this match displayed, it hasn’t been all straightforward. Noskova saved a match point in the third set of her third-round match against Sorana Cirstea.

The 12th-ranked Noskova will climb to No. 7 — a new career-high — when the next rankings are released on Monday.

Jana Novotna, one of Noskova’s first coaches, also won Wimbledon (in 1998).

Now Noskova is the youngest woman to win Wimbledon since Kvitova was also 21 in 2011.

And 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 for Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year since Justine Henin and Serena Williams, respectively, claimed those titles in 2003.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press