Mertens, Noskova seize the moment to reach first Wimbledon quarterfinal
Elise Mertens and Linda Noskova knew that opportunity knocked on Monday at the All England Club, and both women seized it to book a place in their respective first-ever Wimbledon quarterfinal.
Something had to give when Noskova faced Madison Keys in a match-up of, arguably, the two players who arrived in the best form. The pair entered their first career head-to-head meeting with eight match wins on grass so far this season -- and as two of four women who'd won a warm-up event in the Grass-Court Swing on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz to reach the Wimbledon fourth round.
But by the end of 1 hour and 32 minutes, No. 9 seed Noskova was the only one left after earlier losses by Marie Bouzkova and Ashlyn Krueger. The highest-seeded player left in the bottom half of the women's draw, the Berlin champion put together a comprehensive performance to win 6-4, 7-6(2) to reach her second career Grand Slam quarterfinal, and first at Wimbledon.
"Obviously getting to such a stage in this tournament is always a great achievement, especially when I feel great on court," Noskova told reporters after the match. "I feel like I'm using all my game that I know and want to use on the grass, which have been working out for me for some weeks now. I'm glad that I keep going."
Noskova's achievement puts her in the all-time annals in Czech tennis. She is the youngest Czech in 15 years to reach the final eight at SW19, since Petra Kvitova stormed to the first of her two titles in 2011 at the same age. She and Karolina Muchova are the first two from their country to reach the quarterfinals together at the same Wimbledon since Muchova did it with Karolina Pliskova five years ago, too.
"It's something incredible just to go down the history and see all these amazing players or to speak with them, because I feel like I'm always just like a little kid seeing the celebrities or seeing someone that I looked up to," the 21-year-old said. "It's always nice to look at that.
"I do have [the history] in the back of my mind, but it's not something that I am focusing on, that I want to be just like them or want to kind of keep going in the history," she added. "Obviously it would be such an achievement for our country, for our small country. But I'm trying to focus on myself. Just getting here and getting to Grand Slam, getting to Wimbledon is an achievement, so we cannot forget that."
Mertens and Noskova will square off for the first time with a spot in the semifinals at stake. The Belgian veteran earned a fourth career Grand Slam quarterfinal berth -- and first in six years -- by coming from a break down in the first set to see off Bouzkova, 6-4, 6-4.
Afterwards, the former World No. 11 confessed that she stayed mentally on target despite the opportunity she felt was in front of her. She was 1-1 previously against Bouzkova, but beat her in straight sets in their most recent meeting five months ago.
"I was thinking maybe this is my chance. Who knows, my last chance. Maybe not, maybe yes," she said. "But, yeah, I'm over 30 now. To eventually get it done, play a quarterfinals, is something amazing. I think I really had to believe in myself to do it today."
