The Czech Karolina Muchova (9th in the world) qualified Thursday at the age of 29 for her first final at Wimbledon thanks to her victory 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (12/10) against the American Coco Gauff (7th), double winner of major tournaments.
Three years after her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros, Muchova will try on Saturday to win a first major trophy against her compatriot Linda Noskova (12th) or the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk (13th), whose duel is scheduled for Thursday in the wake of the first semi-final.
After two first one-sided sets, first in favor of Muchova then Gauff, the last round was extremely indecisive and spectacular.
After saving a match point for the American at 9/8 in the super tie-break, the Czech snatched victory on her second match point, after a 2h35 fight fought in more than 30°C.
Winner just before Wimbledon of the WTA 500 tournament in Bad Hombourg, her first title on grass, Muchova lined up at this Central which she discovered a tenth victory in a row.
The native of Olomouc, in the east of the Czech Republic, had never before achieved so much success in her career.
Her career at Wimbledon will propel her to at least sixth place in the world at the end of the tournament, the best ranking of her career.
Beaten by Gauff in their first six duels, all played on hard courts, Muchova got the better of her younger sister for the second time in three months, after having dominated her for the first time in April on the clay of Stuttgart.
Both players were playing in their first semi-final at Wimbledon.
Before the 2026 edition, Muchova had not won a single match on the pitch of the All England Club since 2021.
Crowned on hard court at the US Open in 2023 and on clay at Roland-Garros in 2025, Gauff (22 years old) fails for the fourth time to reach the final of a tournament on grass.
