Wimbledon: Karolina Muchova closes in on rankings breakthrough with thrilling Coco Gauff win
Karolina Muchova is through to her maiden Wimbledon final after she won a dramatic match tiebreak to defeat Coco Gauff in an enthralling battle.
No 10 seed Muchova prevailed 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(10) after two hours and 35 minutes in the first women’s semi-final on Centre Court.
The 29-year-old Czech is chasing her first Grand Slam title, having lost to Iga Swiatek at the 2023 French Open in her only previous major championship match.
How did the match unfold?
Tennis365 watched the semi-final from courtside, and the first and second sets were both won in convincing fashion, with Muchova breaking twice and not losing serve in the first before Gauff repeated this pattern in the second.
In the third set, each woman saved two break points — Gauff at 1-2; Muchova at 4-4 — but neither lost serve en route to a decisive 10-point tiebreak.
In a tense conclusion, Gauff handed Muchova a mini-break advantage with a double fault at 7-7, but she won the next two points on Muchova’s serve to reach match point on her own serve at 9-8.
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After Muchova barely returned a 119mph Gauff serve, the American opted to play a forehand drop shot on the short ball, and she found the net.
At 9-10, Gauff saved a Muchova match point with a forehand passing shot as Muchova slipped at the net.
Muchova recovered, though, and played a superb attacking point to convert her second opportunity at 11-10.
What did Muchova say after her victory?
In her on-court interview, Muchova said: “It sounds really nice to be in a final. Honestly, was such a big fight. Was a rollercoaster. Was up and down. Match point and then match point down. You don’t have time to think.
“It was very nerve-wrecking. I don’t even know what I’m saying, I’m shaking and trying to sink it in. The atmosphere here was indescribable, thank you everyone who came and supported us.
“There is so many of us tennis players and not many of us get to play on this court. It is such a history of our sport, so it is very special.
“We came to warm up here with Linda [Noskova] before the semis so I took a photo, so nice moment to experience this and this court is beautiful.”
How has Muchova beating Gauff at Wimbledon affected the WTA Rankings?
Gauff began Wimbledon as the world No 7, and her run to the semi-finals has taken her points total to 5,649 and moved her up three spots to fourth in the Live WTA Rankings.
Muchova started the event as the world No 10, and before the semi-finals, she had climbed four places to sixth in the Live Rankings, which ensured she would improve on her previous career-high ranking of eighth.
The three-time WTA Tour title winner remains in the No 6 position after reaching the final, but she has improved her points total to 5,168.
If Muchova wins Wimbledon, she will move onto 5,868 points, which would see her overtake both Mirra Andreeva and Gauff to become the world No 4.
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