By Pritha Sarkar
LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) - Less than a fortnight ago, practically no one would have picked Marta Kostyuk, Linda Noskova, Karolina Muchova and Coco Gauff as the Final Four at Wimbledon.
After all, the unlikely quartet did not exactly have a grasscourt record to boast about, with only Muchova having even reached the quarter-finals at the All England Club before.
But considering she had waved goodbye in the first round on her last four visits, even that had become a fading memory.
Yet remarkably,
when Muchova steps onto Centre Court to face Gauff before Noskova takes on Kostyuk in Thursday's women's semi-finals, one of them will be two wins away from hoisting the most famous prize in tennis, the Venus Rosewater Dish.
WILL BE A FIRST-TIME WOMEN'S CHAMPION AGAIN
Since Serena Williams won the last of her seven titles at Wimbledon in 2016, there has been a long list of one-hit wonders at the grasscourt major.
For the ninth successive edition, there will be a first-time women's champion, leading Noskova to say: "Anybody can beat anybody, it's wide open."
No other major has produced such a revolving door of champions, thus adding to the mystique and aura that surrounds Wimbledon.
World number seven Gauff, the highest seed left, is the only one of those left standing who even knows what it is like to lift a Grand Slam trophy - having done so at the U.S. and French Opens.
But even she is surprised with her run to the Wimbledon semis as she had been left scarred following her poor showings on turf in recent years.
GAUFF HOPES IT IS HER DESTINY
"If you told me I would be in the semis ... I'd be, 'You're funny'. Especially ... the last two years not winning anything on here," said the 22-year-old American who has been a regular visitor to Wimbledon since 2019 when she beat Venus Williams in the first round as a 15-year-old schoolgirl.
"Do I feel like Wimbledon is part of my destiny? If you asked me seven days ago, the answer would have been no. Honestly, I was writing it off a little bit.
"But I hope it is part of my destiny, whether it's this year or in the future. I definitely would love to see my name on the champions' wall, for sure."
Gauff holds a psychological 6-1 advantage over 10th seed Muchova going into the match.
Muchova, however, would like to look at their history from a glass half-full perspective.
"I'm happy we have 0-0 on the grass. That's a bit better balance for me there," she said, with a grin.
CZECH SUCCESS AT WIMBLEDON
There is something about playing on the lush green turf that brings Czech players to life.
Since tennis turned professional almost six decades ago, Czech women have hoisted the Rosewater Dish seven times — including the first two won by Martina Navratilova before she was granted U.S. citizenship in 1981.
That haul by Navratilova, Jana Novotna, Petra Kvitova (two), Marketa Vondrousova and Barbora Krejcikova is more than the combined total of five major women's titles the country's players have won at the other three slams since 1968.
Muchova and Noskova will also have the added incentive of setting up the first all-Czech Grand Slam final.
Like her semi-final rivals, ninth seed Noskova is still struggling to believe that she is within touching distance of achieving tennis immortality.
But that state of disbelief has not stopped her dreaming about achieving "big things in the world" like her idol Kvitova.
"We had two matches against each other ... I was just kind of stunned that I was on the same court with 'the' Petra Kvitova," Noskova, who was beaten by Ukrainian 12th seed Kostyuk in their only previous meeting, said after reaching the semis.
"As a kid, I was always looking up to her. She was the face of Czech tennis. When she won two Wimbledons ... she helped me to get into tennis a little bit.
"I would love to follow her in her footsteps. If the outcome's going to be the same, I would love nothing more."
For Kostyuk, she hopes her run will bring some much-needed distraction to her war-ravaged country.
"I'm hoping it would mean a lot," she said.
WIMBLEDON ORDER OF PLAY ON THURSDAY (prefix number denotes seeding)
CENTRE COURT (play begins at 1230 GMT)
10-Karolina Muchova (Czech Republic) v 7-Coco Gauff (U.S.)
12-Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) v 9-Linda Noskova (Czech Republic)
(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar; Editing by Alison Williams)
