The Albany Gazette - Czech mates Muchova and Noskova to clash in Wimbledon final

Muchova saved a match point in a pulsating 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (12/10) semi-final win against two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff that lasted over two hours in sweltering 33C heat on Thursday.

Just hours later, Noskova followed Muchova onto Centre Court to dispatch Ukrainian 12th seed Marta Kostyuk with a dominant 6-4, 6-4 victory that took just 79 minutes.

It was a remarkable day for two players who have grown close despite being at far different stages of their careers.

Muchova and Noskova have been friends for several years, bonding off the court and playing doubles together at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"Karolina is such a great fighter, such an incredible player, but mainly she is such a great person. I'm glad I can play my first final against her," Noskova said.

Muchova made her WTA main draw debut nine years ago and has been on the cusp of making her breakthrough at the Grand Slams several times.

The 29-year-old was beaten in three sets by Iga Swiatek in her only previous major final at the 2023 French Open.

She also lost in the Australian Open semi-finals in 2021 and the last four at the US Open in 2023 and 2024.

Muchova, who had lost in the first round on her previous four appearances at Wimbledon, is at last unimpeded after suffering a multitude of injuries in recent years.

In 2022, doctors told Muchova that it would be a good idea for her to quit tennis altogether, while in 2023 and 2024 right wrist surgery sidelined her for 10 months.

Muchova takes "pills, sprays, eyedrops" to manage a grass allergy, but she is no longer adverse to playing on the lawns of the All England Club.

"It's a very special moment. It's a great achievement," Muchova said.

"This is one of the biggest tournaments that we have with all the history, so many legends were playing here, as well to just get to play on the Centre Court, it was so nice."

- 'Gave me the belief' -

In contrast to Muchova's litany of near-misses, Noskova is enjoying a meteoric rise.

The 21-year-old only made her Wimbledon debut in 2022 and now she is on the brink of a maiden Grand Slam title.

The youngest Wimbledon semi-finalist since Jelena Ostapenko in 2018, Noskova may not be a star just yet, but she has won more matches on grass than any other player on the WTA Tour in the past two years.

In the lead up to Wimbledon, she won the Berlin Open for her first grass-court title.

"When I play my best I know I can play with the best players in the world and a have a great result, which is a final in a Grand Slam I guess!" she said.

The Czech duo's run to the final has extended their country's rich history at Wimbledon despite a population of just 11 million.

For the third time in the last four years, a Czech woman will hold aloft the Venus Rosewater Dish awarded to the Wimbledon winner after Barbora Krejcikova in 2024 and Marketa Vondrousova in 2023.

Noskova was inspired by the success of her childhood idol Petra Kvitova, who triumphed at the All England Club in 2011 and 2014.

Jana Novotna memorably won Wimbledon in 1998 after losing two previous finals. while Karolina Pliskova reached the 2021 final and Hana Mandlikova twice finished as runner-up in the 1980s.

"We have great history of Czech tennis. Definitely the fact that there is so many of us," Muchova said.

"Myself, when I was younger, looking up to the girls who were like maybe five years older than I was, you can just see them doing so well. So it gave me the belief that I can as well do it."

(T.Wright--TAG)