Wimbledon: Linda Noskova soars to rankings milestone after beating Marta Kostyuk to reach final

Ewan West 09 Jul 2026 7:06 PM

Linda Noskova celebrates her win

Linda Noskova earned a convincing straight-set victory against Marta Kostyuk in the Wimbledon semi-finals to progress to her first-ever Grand Slam final.

Ninth seed Noskova downed No 12 seed Kostyuk 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 19 minutes on Centre Court in the second women’s semi-final on Thursday.

Noskova faced only one break point in the match — when she was broken at 3-1 in the second set — but she broke Kostyuk three times, including when the Ukrainian served at 4-5 to stay in both sets.

The 21-year-old Czech’s victory has set up an all-Czech Wimbledon final after her compatriot Karolina Muchova overcame Coco Gauff in the first semi-final.

In her on-court interview, Noskova said: “A semi-final at a Grand Slam is never easy, no matter who you play, no matter where you play. I just tried to be as patient as possible, keep cool and somehow I did the last point.

“I always just try to focus on my self, my game. When I play my best, I know I can play with the best players in the world and have a great result, which is a final in a Grand Slam I guess.”

Noskova added: “I was not watching a lot of tennis as a kid, but I do remember when Petra Kvitova won her Grand Slam here, maybe one of the first moments I realise sport such as tennis exists.

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“Still in shock I had a chance in my life to play on such a court and get a win.”

Noskova also spoke about facing Muchova in the final.

“Karolina, she is such a great fighter, such an incredible player, but mainly and mostly she is such a great person. So I’m happy I get to play my first final against her,” she said.

How has Noskova’s Wimbledon run affected her WTA ranking?

Noskova started the tournament at her career-high ranking of world No 10, but she dropped to 12th in the Live WTA Rankings after the points she earned for reaching the fourth round at the All England Club last year were deducted.

The Czech’s run to the championship match in London has increased her points total by 1,060 to 4,419, which has lifted her four places to a projected new career-high position of eighth in the Live Rankings.

If Noskova defeats Muchova in the Wimbledon final, she will overtake Iga Swiatek and become the new world No 7.