LONDON (AP) — Linda Noskova placed fingers in both of her ears to drown out the noise from the Centre Court crowd.
She draped one of Wimbledon’s strawberry-red towels over her head.
And eventually — after she had wasted five match points and a 5-2 lead and conceded the second set of a drama-filled final — she left the court completely for a bathroom break.
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.
“I was like, ‘I’m not going to take the small one. I’m taking the big one. I have been so close. This will probably be the heartbreak of my life,’” Noskova said. "'I’m going to leave my soul on court in the third set, whatever that be.'”
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 for her first Grand Slam trophy on Saturday.
When Noskova finally finished it off with a service winner on her sixth match point — and first of the third set — she covered her face and dropped down to the grass on her back.
Minutes later, Noskova was being awarded the Venus Rosewater Dish by Kate, the Princess of Wales.
“It’s never easy to get the last point,” Noskova said during her victory speech. “Karo, you really made me work for it.”
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.
Muchova and Noskova played doubles together at the 2024 Paris Olympics and finished fourth.
“I am so glad that I could play my first Grand Slam final with you,” Noskova told Muchova during her speech. “We 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.”
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 and was seated next to Princess Kate in the Royal Box; and Jan Kodes, the 1973 champion.
It’s Noskova’s second grass title of the season after beating Jessica Pegula in the Berlin Open final.
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.
She's the youngest woman to win Wimbledon since Kvitova was also 21 in 2011.
Jana Novotna, one of Noskova’s first coaches, also won Wimbledon (in 1998).
How to explain all the Czech success?
“They play on clay in the summer where you have to out-maneuver your opponent and then in the winter they go indoors and it’s first-strike tennis,” Austin said. “The best of both worlds to create an all-court player.”
In the men’s final on Sunday, top-ranked Jannik Sinner will attempt to defend his title against French Open champion Alexander Zverev.
