Wimbledon 2026 was not quite as chaotic as Roland Garros 2026 but had a similar ending in that a young rising star was left showing she had arrived and ultimately holding the trophy at the end. But it did see early exits for top seeds, Aryna Sabalenka, pre-tournament favourite Elena Rybakina and defending champion Iga Swiatek along with recent Roland Garros winner, Mirra Andreeva. Ultimately, Linda Noskova beat Karolina Muchova in a roller coaster of a final that saw Noskova dominate and have 5 championship points in set 2, only to fail to convert any. The Muchova fight back, winning 5 games in a row from 2-5 down to push the match to an unlikely third set made this one of the more dramatic recent finals. That Noskova reset after what must have been a pretty gut-wrenching experience to pretty straightforwardly triumph, says a lot about this cool and calm 21 year old.
Like many others, I love watching Muchova’s fluid and graceful style of play. I was lucky enough to be on centre court on semifinals day and that extraordinary win over Coco Gauff. Before this year however, I had thought of Muchova as a player unlikely to ever win big. She had a single meagre 250 title to her name and even at ITF level, only ever won 2 titles. She might be fun to watch, but a real contender? Probably not. However, 2026 has seen that script rewritten, starting with an excellent win at the WTA1000 in Qatar, and then just days before Wimbledon, picking up the WTA500 title in Bad Homburg when Naomi Osaka was forced to retire after the first set of the final. Muchova had come through against three multi-slam winners in Barbora Krejcikova, Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff to reach the final. This seemed to be her year, the most elegant player with a game seemingly ideally suited for grass. Muchova’s serve and forehand seemed to have more pop, she didn’t seem injured… this was her time.
No it’s not says Linda Noskova!
Noskova has been gradually rising up the rankings and getting wins since she burst on the scene by defeating Iga Swiatek at the Australian Open in 2024. I first noticed her when she won the girls title at Roland Garros in 2021 when Barbora Krejcikova won the singles and doubles titles. Winning the title in Berlin a few weeks before Wimbledon was big. She beat Jessica Pegula in the final, and Pegula is a good grass court player. At Wimbledon her biggest scare was saving a match point against Sorana Cirstea in the third round, but then she cruised past Madison Keys, many people’s outside bet for the title and recent Eastbourne champion, Elise Mertens in the quarters and Marta Kotyuk in the semifinals. The notable stroke that was making the biggest difference was her serve. Not always the fastest, Noskova was remarkably accurate on it. From the deuce court she loves the slice that just moves away on grass – like the classic leftie slice serve in reverse! But in the final, her serves on the ad side fast and wide were stunning. In the third set when the match was in the balance she hit about three that were 113/114mph giving Muchova no chance.
As this was her first grand slam final, some wondered whether the 21-year-old would feel the nerves. Well it looked more like she was channelling Czech legend Petra Kvitova who was resplendent in red in the royal box. Noskova was serving and hitting her ground strokes fast and deep and Muchova was left scrambling. She also was showing off her touch with a lovely drop shot winner in the very first game of the match. It did seem like the drama of the Gauff match had got to Muchova as she looked a step slow, even though it was largely Noskova’s excellence. Muchova said later in press it may have also been nerves as she really wanted this. The score was 6-2, 5-2 to Noskova and quite honestly I was thinking it might not have been last year’s double bagel by Swiatek over Anisimova, but it was going to be another no-contest final. But then two things happened. Noskova began to tighten up while Muchova began to go for broke. The crowd also started to yell for Muchova and a better contest. For 50 minutes, Noskova did not win a game as Muchova took the next 5 to win the set 7-5. Noskova was putting her towel over her head and her fingers in her ears to block out the cheering crowd.
I will be honest, even though I wanted a Muchova win, I really felt for Noskova at this point. She had had 5 championship points and failed to convert. If she went on to lose this would have been probably one of the all time biggest collapses in Grand Slam final history. I was therefore so impressed with the way Noskova reset. Key to that was the very first game of the third set. Muchova had break points but Noskova seemed back in control of her game, held on and that flipped the momentum back her way. She broke Muchova in the very next game and that was the crucial break. Serving at 5-3 she was calm this time and an unreturned serve on match point sealed the deal. It is one thing to dominate and march to victory, but to win after choking away 5 match points was remarkable. Noskova was excellent today (apart from the second set collapse).
I also have to say a word for the on court speeches. Neither of these two come across as emotional players but a disappointed Karolina Muchova showed real class – and comic timing – with her opening line through the tears. “I’ll start with Linda… my ex-friend.”
Linda Noskova is another very quiet and calm player, but more tears were shed in her lovely speech. What really got to many of us was her referring to her mother who died two years ago on the eve of Wimbledon when Linda was just 19. She raised a few eyebrows literally going out and playing the day after her mother’s death, getting her first Wimbledon win over Sara Errani before losing in round 2. But she hasn’t talked about it much before – then again its only when you win big titles you get the platform to speak. Anyway, not a dry eye in the house after this moment.
An historic day for Czech tennis with both finalists, and indeed, 4 Czechs in the last 16. Noskova becomes the third Czech winner in four years after Vondousova in 2023 and Krejcikova in 2024, and the youngest since Petra Kvitova in 2011. Truly a memorable final and a testament to the quality of Czech tennis.
Other stories from this Wimbledon include the return of Barbora Krejcikova! A highlight of the first week was Krejcikova’s victory over 5th seed and recent Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva. Of course, Barbora doesn’t do things the easy way – seven match points needed for a hard fought victory. After seeing off rising young star Nikola Bartunkova, Krejcikova and Muchova played in the 4th round and was one of my favourite matches! These two were playing chess on the court, but Muchova’s athletic brilliance edged out Barbora’s tactical genius. Plus Krejcikova was gassed in the third set! After a bad case of the flu, she seemed to be struggling to breathe from the second set on in the sweltering conditions on court 2, and her legs looked gone as well by the end. Still a great run for Barbie K!
One of the most stunning wins of the championships was Naomi Osaka’s dismissal of world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Now I AM a Sabalenka fan so this one hurt as Osaka took away all three of Aryna’s grand slam records. She had made the quarterfinals or better of every slam since the 2022 French Open. Sabalenka was on a 21 match tiebreak winning streak in slams. She had not been beaten in straight sets in a slam since the US Open of 2020. So this 6-2, 7-6 victory by Naomi Osaka was a genuine shocker, but to be honest Sabalenka has played a lot worse and won or lost in three. Osaka played like the Naomi of old when she won US and Australian Opens. Her serve was untouchable, her ground strokes deep and accurate. Aryna hasn’t had a good month but even she was philosophical in press – she didn’t have a chance, Osaka was just too good.
Once again, Osaka used the tournament as a bit of a fashion show but I must admit I quite liked the Kill Bill inspired kimono! For a player who never seemed comfortable on grass, the final in Bad Homburg and a quarterfinal at Wimbledon shows Osaka will be a real threat in the next few years. Her serve and flat accurate hitting works.
Another player who has often looked all at sea on grass was Coco Gauff, who had a great tournament this year. Gauff seemed to grow in confidence and dug out many three set victories. Many of us were thinking this could be Jess Pegula’s year as her game just seemed to work so well on grass, but Gauff outplayed her in the quarterfinals. One of the keys was a more reliable serve and her more aggressive play and coming to the net. She is so athletic, it looks natural and for the first time, I can honestly see her as a Wimbledon contender too.
Being on centre court for the Gauff-Muchova match has to go down as one of my best live Wimbledon moments ever. This was such a dramatic match with both playing so well then both getting to nervous! The final set tiebreak was just insane! This diving volley from Muchova brought back memories of Boris Becker
But then this miss on match point from Coco Gauff has to be one of the howlers of her career. It probably should have been her taking on Noskova in the final. But regardless, Gauff looked great on grass. Another contender for the title in the coming years…
Alex Eala’s win over Iga Swiatek was actually not that shocking to many tennis watchers. Iga has not been having a great year and her nervy error-strewn game is a long way from the old Iga’s bakery dominating force. Meanwhile, Eala is one of the biggest stars on the tour thanks to the army of Filipino fans and her winning personality. She still lacks a bit of power, but her court sense is good and she outfoxed a frustrated Iga. Plus a super cool photo from WTA photographer Jimmie48!
One of the biggest stories of the entire tournament was the return of Serena Williams. The 44 year-old GOAT of women’s tennis had returned to play doubles at Queens with Vicky Mboko and at Berlin with Karolina Muchova. It was then announced she would be playing doubles with sister Venus, and singles! The lucky opponent, young Aussie Maya Joint who had been in terrible form in 2026. Many predicted a Serena win, but ultimately, while we saw that super smooth and powerful serve, Joint raised her game and played so well. Serena ran out of gas a bit in the third, and it turned out also injured her knee, putting her out of the doubles.
Marta Kostyuk followed up her semifinal in Paris with a semifinal at Wimbledon which was an excellent result for her. Yet another player with not much form on grass, but the hot weather in the UK made the courts play more like hard courts and Kostyuk seems to be full on confidence right now. Her semifinal loss to Noskova was uneventful in that whatever Marta tried, Noskova just had an answer for and Kostyuk could not get near her serve.
I was happy to see a bit of a Jasmine Paolini resurgence. After losing the first set of her first round match to dangerous leftie Robin Montgomery 6-0, it looked like the 2024 finalist might be heading for a swift exit. Instead, we began to see the bouncy Paolini of the last few years again and a creditable run to the quarterfinals, including eliminating a rather tired looking Alex Eala was a good result for her.
My Top 5 matches
- SF Muchova def. Gauff 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 Just a crazy good match and that final set tiebreak is one of the most dramatic ever
- F Noskova def. Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 An immense effort from Noskova to recover from near calamity to claim her first grand slam title
- R2 Krejcikova def. Andreeva 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Of course I’m putting a famous centre court Krejcikova win in my favourite matches! The 5-3 game when Krejcikova had match point after match point and could not convert was so tense!
- R4 Muchova def.Krejcikova 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 A bit like the final, Muchova led by a set and 5-2 but Krejcikova stormed back to level the match but Muchova reset and had too much in the end. Such a varied and enjoyable match
- R3 Bouzkova def. Samsonova 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. At 3 hours 25mins this epic match was SO good! Samsonova finally found some form on the grass and it was her attack versus the Bouzkova defence, fighting off break point after break point. Sadly Marie didn’t have much left and lost 6-4, 6-4 to Elise Mertens in the next round.
Yes, yes, the Gauff Bencic match was good too! (I honestly did not intend every match to feature a Czech… or two!)
A mixed doubles title for Jelena Ostapenko was another notable victory – and as it was played on Ladies semifinals day, one I also got to enjoy live. Penko went full on aggression when she and partner Marcela Arávelo were a set and a break down to Aussies Storm Hunter and Marc Polmans. They won 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Ostapenko now becomes the second (or 4th if you include Serena and Venus) active player to hold a singles, doubles and mixed triple crown of grand slam titles. The other being, of course, Barbora Krejcikova!
All in all, I thought this was a great Wimbledon with loads of good matches. The top players, Sabalenka, Rybakina and Swiatek didn’t have a good slam again and there is a real chance Aryna Sabalenka will go slamless in 2026 unless she can pull off yet another US Open win. Quite honestly, it was great to see players who have historically struggled on grass, kind of conquer it the last 2 years, with Iga’s win in 2025 and both Osaka and Gauff having very good tournaments. But most of all, this was one for the Czech women. Bouzkova and Krejcikova making the 4th round, Noskova and Muchova the final.
Gratuluji ladies!
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