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.
An excerpt of the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling that was placed above the players’ entrance to Centre Court more than a century ago summarizes the challenges Noskova had to overcome.
“If you can meet with triumph and disaster,” the excerpt says. “And treat those two imposters just the same.”
It's not the first time that Noskova has had to overcome adversity at Wimbledon.
Her mother died just before she played the tournament two years ago.
“I definitely would not be standing here without her, so thank you,” Noskova said in a dedication to her mother during her speech when she blew a kiss skyward.
Navratilova wiped away tears listening to Noskova's tribute.
Moments earlier, Muchova began her runner-up speech by calling Noskova “my ex-friend.
“I’m kidding, obviously,” Muchova quickly added. “You’re so young and this was your first final of a Grand Slam and the way you handled it ... was really unbelievable. ... You deserve it.”
It was the 29-year-old Muchova's second Grand Slam final after getting beat by Iga Swiatek at the French Open in 2023.
Blasting aces and winners from all over the court early on, Noskova looked like she was going to run away with it almost like Swiatek's 6-0, 6-0 rout of Amanda Anisimova in last year's final, which lasted all of 57 minutes.
Saturday's match was just 68 minutes old when Noskova earned her first match point — which ended when she landed a backhand into the net.
Two points later, there was another backhand miss from Noskova; then Muchova took advantage of a net-cord shot on Noskova's third match point in the same game.
Serving for the title in the next game, Noskova double faulted on her fourth match point. And then on the fifth occasion to end it, Muchova produced a big serve and forehand winner.
In all, Noskova lost five straight games.
“It’s hard to watch,” Tracy Austin said on the BBC as she called the match alongside John McEnroe. “We know what that feels like when you start to get tight and you can’t loosen up and then the lead starts to unravel.”
Noskova said, “Winning it this way, really having to fight for it, having all these ups and downs, it matters a lot. I have to learn a lot from this match."
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.
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AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
