At 21, Noskova caps a brilliant fortnight to become youngest Wimbledon champion in 15 years

WIMBLEDON -- Six championship points and three sets later, Linda Noskova is a Wimbledon champion. 

Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draws

With a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory over fellow Czech Karolina Muchova, Noskova prevailed at the All England Club in her first Grand Slam final to win the most prestigious of her three career singles titles.

At 21 years old, she's the youngest Wimbledon champion since her idol, Czech legend Petra Kvitova, who watched Noskova's triumph from the Royal Box after winning the first of her two Wimbledon titles in 2011. Noskova joins Kvitova as the only Czech players to make their Grand Slam final debut at Wimbledon -- and both were victorious.

Noskova leaves SW19 with the Venus Rosewater Dish -- presented by the Princess of Wales, Catherine -- in hand after a memorable fortnight and is projected to rise to a career-high No. 7 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz rankings on Monday.

Muchova, who mounted a valiant comeback by saving five championship points -- the most in a Grand Slam final -- is projected to sit one spot higher at a similar career-best No. 6. She is now 0-2 in major finals, following the 2023 French Open, and was visibly heartbroken during her finalist speech.

"It's really tough to find any words, but I'll start with Linda, my ex-friend," Muchova joked to the crowd despite the tears. 

Sunshine and clear blue skies framed Centre Court as Wimbledon prepared to crown its 10th different women's singles champion in as many years. One thing was guaranteed before the first ball was struck: a Czech champion would lift the title.

An all-Czech Wimbledon final is a rarity. Before Saturday, the last women's singles final between players from the same country came in 2009, when Serena Williams defeated Venus Williams. Aside from the United States, this was just the second all-nationality Wimbledon women's singles final of the Open Era, joining Australia's Evonne Goolagong and Margaret Court in 1971.

Noskova is now the fifth Grand Slam singles champion to represent Czechia and the third Czech woman to win Wimbledon in the past four years, further cementing the country's remarkable success on the sport's biggest stage.

Saturday's final was also the first at Wimbledon where both players each won a lead-up event on grass since Martina Navratilova and Zina Garrison in 1990 -- Noskova won in Berlin, Muchova in Bad Homburg. Noskova is now the first since Maria Sharapova in 2004 to win both the lead-up and the major on grass, and it was fitting Sharapova and Navratilova enjoyed the final from the Royal Box, too. 

How the match unfolded 

The match quickly tilted in Noskova's favor. Two service breaks proved the difference in a 31-minute opening set, and Muchova didn't earn her first break point until 1-1 in the second. Holding a 0-40 advantage, she had a prime chance to shift the momentum, but Noskova erased all three chances -- first with a forehand winner, then with a strong serve before Muchova sent a forehand long.

Muchova's response made for the match's defining stretch. Serving at 2-5, she saved three championship points to stay alive. She then broke Noskova -- who had been broken only twice in her previous three matches combined -- to erase a fourth championship point before saving a fifth on her own serve. The remarkable comeback gave Muchova five straight games, the second set and the loudest ovation of the afternoon from Centre Court.

Noskova never let the momentum shift for long. She regrouped to earn an early break in the deciding set -- her fourth of the match -- and this time left nothing to chance. Serving again at 5-2, she converted her sixth championship point, dropped to the Centre Court grass and celebrated the biggest title of her career.

By the numbers

• Noskova is the third player to win the Wimbledon women's singles title at Wimbledon after saving match point, joining Venus Williams (2005) and Serena Williams (2009). In the third round, Noskova saved match point with a backhand down the line against Sorana Cirstea in her 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9) win. 
• Saturday's victory marked Noskova's 20th tour-level win on grass of any player since the start of last season, the most of any player on the tour. Her 12 wins on the surface this season were the most of any player. 
• Since 2020, Noskova and Elena Rybakina are two players to advance to and win their first career Grand Slam final at Wimbledon.
• Noskova, 21, and Mirra Andreeva, 19, are the first two players both 21 and under to win Wimbledon and Roland Garros in the same season for the first time since 2003 (Justine Henin and Serena).
• Noskova is now 3-5 in singles finals on the WTA Tour.

More to come...