From a village of 1,000 to Grand Slam champion: Linda Noskova on a life-changing Wimbledon

LONDON -- As Linda Noskova walked off Centre Court for a quick break after letting five championship points slip away in the second set of the Wimbledon final, she paused for a moment to look at the two trophies waiting for the post-match ceremony.

Minutes later, she was lifting the one that mattered.

The 21-year-old regrouped after Muchova erased a 5-2 deficit in the second set, recovering to complete a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory for her first Grand Slam title.

"The first step I took off court, the trophies were there," she said. "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."

Rewind to the third round. Noskova had already lost three of her previous four meetings with No. 17 Sorana Cirstea, then let a 4-2 lead disappear in the deciding set. Facing match point at 5-4, she ripped a backhand crosscourt -- not a clean winner, but close enough -- to stay alive before escaping with a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(9) victory.

"I just refused to lose the match," Noskova said after defeating Cirstea. "I was telling myself that it's never over, obviously, that the last point always decides."

One year earlier, Wimbledon carried a very different meaning for Noskova.

Only 19 at the time, Noskova arrived at the All England Club as one of the game's brightest young prospects, announcing herself months earlier with an upset of then-No. 1 Iga Swiatek en route to the Australian Open quarterfinals. But the day before the Championships began, her mother, Ivana, died of cancer. Noskova chose to compete and reached the second round.

She rarely spoke publicly about the loss or what it took to return to the tournament where it happened. But after winning Wimbledon on Saturday, Noskova looked to the sky and dedicated the title to her mother.

"There's also one more person I would like to thank, which is my mom," she said. "I definitely would not be standing here without her, so thank you."

Noskova was born in Bystricka, a village of about 1,000 residents in eastern Czechia, to railway worker Drahos and shop manager Ivana. She has credited her rural upbringing, surrounded by forests and mountains, with fostering her passion for environmental issues. As her tennis talent became evident, Ivana took temporary cleaning and laundry jobs to help fund her daughter's development.

From those modest beginnings to Wimbledon champion, Noskova's journey has been anything but conventional. Even speaking to the Czech media after the final, she admitted the scale of her achievement still hadn't fully registered.

"My whole journey was a bit different than others," she told them. "My life was never set in stone."

Still processing the biggest moment of her career, Noskova later sat down with wtatennis.com at the All England Club to reflect on her title run, her mother's influence and what comes next.

When you told the Czech press your life was never set in stone, what did you mean by that?

Noskova: My life was never supposed to be going this way. I was never brought up as a "Grand Slam champion" -- it's still very surreal to even say that. I feel like the main core is that I'm not over-confident all the time. I'm, at least I would say, down to earth because of the fact that I was not brought up this way.

My parents and my family have always been very supportive of my journey, but they were not exactly the main planners of this whole journey. They always wanted me to have a nice life, have a joyful life, and if that would have been at school or on court, they would have been happy.

You and Karolina have both said you're tired of being asked about the secret to Czech tennis. But I'm curious whether one reason for that success is that young players in Czechia grow up believing tennis is a sport anyone can succeed in -- not just those from wealthy families.

Noskova: I am sometimes feeling more like an outsider -- I do. Again, because I was not originally supposed to be here.

I feel like all of our journeys were very different, me and the other fellow Czech tennis players. But one thing that I guess we have in common is that we can just look at history. I feel like the fact that our country is so small means we can look at the big legends and the crowns and champions and think, 'If it was them that won it, why not me? You know, why not us?'

In Rome you said one of your motivations was that sport could take you to different places, particularly in terms of your passion for environmental issues. Has it sunk in that being Wimbledon champion will open up a lot of those doors for you?

Noskova: Yeah, I feel like this is going to be the way that I'm going to take. This definitely helps me a lot off court. I'm going to try to use it in a good way. It's not going to be a big materialistic thing. 

You said this week that reaching the Top 10 was never a goal and that, growing up, Wimbledon was just another tournament. At what point did those dreams become real goals?

Noskova: I guess winning my first title ever was one of the biggest steps. At some stage you have to realize that, if you want to do this for real and you want to get to these places and these moments. The whole journey is never easy, but these are the moments that I play tennis for. And when I saw the trophy being prepared for just one of us I was like, 'I'm not letting this go.'

You mentioned after your semifinal that you have too many superstitions to list. What's your shortlist?

Noskova: There was the matcha that my friend was bringing me every morning to my room. There was the same shower, the same bathroom, the same sink. I always had to take the towel from one place. I had to put on my flip-flops or my shoes and the warm-up was the same every day.

But I am hoping deeply that I'm going to get rid of all these things and start all over and fresh in the new tournament.