Linda Noskova, 21, dedicated her first grand slam title to her late mother, Ivana, after beating fellow Czech Karolina Muchova in a thrilling three-set battle to win the women's Wimbledon singles title. Ivana passed away on the eve of the same tournament two years ago. Noskova's victory made her the latest Czech player to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish, coming back from a tense second set to overcome her compatriot.
As Noskova's triumph settled, attention turned to the men's final, where world No 1 Jannik Sinner aims to win consecutive Wimbledon crowns, while Alexander Zverev bids for back-to-back grand slam titles after his French Open breakthrough last month. Sinner, 24, has dominated Zverev in their recent meetings, winning nine matches in a row against the 29-year-old German, including the last six without dropping a set. Before that streak, Zverev had won four of their first five matches.
“Linda Noskova wins Wimbledon women's title, dedicates victory to late mother; Sinner faces Zverev in men's final.”
Zverev's first Wimbledon final, however, is clouded by domestic abuse allegations from two ex-girlfriends, Olya Sharypova and Brenda Patea, which he has always strenuously denied. “Once you win a major you know how to do it and you feel like you can do it again,” Zverev said, reflecting on his French Open success. “If you improve as a player and you make the decision to improve, you're going to do better in tournaments.”
Sinner, meanwhile, returned to form with a ruthless thrashing of Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. Zverev ended the fairytale run of British wildcard Arthur Fery to reach the final. “We saw how aggressive he's playing, serving very big. He is a tough player to play against,” Sinner said of Zverev. “He was before but now even more because of this confidence he has. When you start to win a lot of matches and don't lose a lot, it shows that he is playing incredible tennis. His confidence is good. But it's going to be very, very tough, very different than all the other matches we have played.”
