Czech tennis star Linda Noskova immediately admitted she didn’t know how to hold the circular Wimbledon championship trophy after capturing the famed tennis tournament title on Saturday.
“I don’t know how to hold it, so that’s the first thing,” Noskova said during the trophy ceremony. “It feels incredible.”
That said, Noskova knows winning the championship is quite familiar to her country, as she became the latest Czech star to win the grass-court Grand Slam at Wimbledon, England. Noskova, 21, beat fellow Czech Karolina Muchova 6–2, 5–7, 6–3 in the final. She became the third Czech women’s tennis star to win at Wimbledon in four years, and Noskova also won her first Grand Slam in the process.
“Today and all these matches have been so tough, so physically or mentally tough,” Noskova said. “Today, especially, it’s never easy to get the last point.”
Before Noskova, Marketa Vondrousova won the championship in 2023, and Barbora Krejcikova won it in 2024. The Czech success at Wimbledon goes back much further with Petra Kvitova, who won it in 2011 and 2014, and Jana Novotna, who won it in 1998.
There’s also Martina Navratilova, a nine-time champion with Czech roots. Navratilova grew up in the former Czechoslovakia until 1975, when she moved to the United States. She won Wimbledon nine times between 1978 and 1990.
“I believe that all our Czech fans at home are proud of us,” Noskova said about her and Muchova. “So no matter the result today, I think it was a good day for both of us.”
Noskova became the second-youngest Czech player to win Wimbledon, as Kvitova was 120 days younger at the time in 2011. It didn’t come easily for Noskova on Saturday because she had to rally during the second set against Muchova after a meltdown.
“Karo, you really made me work for it,” Noskova said, addressing Muchova. “But … like you said, we’re friends. I’m so glad that I could play my first Grand Slam final with you. I think we made history today.”
The two Czech stars competed in the first Grand Slam final to feature two players from the same country since 2017, when U.S. star Sloane Stephens beat fellow American Madison Keys 6–3, 6–0 in the U.S. Open.
Similar to Stephens and Keys, Noskova and Muchova have close ties. The two Czechs competed in doubles at the 2024 Olympics.
Noskova’s journey to the final started with a 6–4, 6–3 win over Germany’s Ella Seidel in the first round. It took three sets for Noskova to eliminate Colombian star Camila Osorio 6–3, 4–6, 6–2 in the second round, and the third round only came harder.
Romania’s Sorana Cirstea pushed Noskova to her limit, but Noskova came away with a 2–6, 6–3, 7–6 victory. Noskova then beat Keys 6–4, 7–6 in the fourth round. For the quarterfinals, Noskova beat Belgium’s Elise Mertens 6–3, 7–5, and Noskova downed Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6–4, 6–4 in the semifinals.
Muchova beat Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova 6–3, 6–2 to start things off, and Muchova then downed China’s Zhang Shuai 6–3, 6–2 and Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6–2, 7–6. In the fourth round, Muchova beat Krejcikova 7–5, 5–7, 6–3. Muchova then beat Japan’s Naomi Osaka 7–6, 6–4 in the quarterfinals, and Muchova won a grueling semifinal match against U.S. star Coco Gauff 6–2, 1–6, 7–6.
Noskova came into Wimbledon ranked No. 12 in the world by the Women’s Tennis Association. She had never made it past the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam tournament before this week, but she previously won the French Open junior girls’ singles crown in 2021.
Amid Noskova’s thanks to family members and her team, she gave special thanks to her late mother, Ivana Noskova. Her mother died of cancer in July 2024.
“I definitely would not be standing here without her, so thank you,” Noskova said, as she blew a kiss to the sky and shed a tear.
