LONDON, July 9: Karolina Muchova ended Coco Gauff’s run at Wimbledon in a drama-filled tiebreaker to reach the final on Thursday.
Muchova won 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10) to become the fourth Czech woman in the last six years to reach the championship match of the grass-court Grand Slam.
Gauff wasted a match point in the tiebreaker when she dinked an attackable forehand into the net to follow a powerful first serve.
Muchova then produced a lob winner to set up her first match point, which she lost when she slipped to the grass and a passing shot from Gauff sailed by her.
But Muchova quickly set up another match point and produced a shot to the corner. Gauff reached the ball but her forehand response landed in the net and Muchova covered her hands in disbelief.
It will be the ninth-ranked Muchova’s second Grand Slam final after losing to Iga Swiatek in the 2023 French Open championship match.
Muchova could face another Czech player in Saturday’s final, with Linda Noskova to play Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in the other semifinal next on Centre Court.
No one would have guessed that Muchova is allergic to grass, and requires “a lot of pills, sprays, eyedrops” just to step onto the most famous patch of turf in tennis.
While spectators struggled to stay cool in the furnace-like atmosphere on Centre Court, Muchova’s pick-and-mix variety of grasscourt craft shone brightly as she broke Gauff in the third and fifth games, with the American surrendering her serve for the second time by wildly misfiring a forehand into the back hoardings.
111 MPH ACE SEALS THE DEAL
However, no one can accuse Gauff of holding up the white flag when the going gets tough or even taking the easy route as she survived four successive three setters to reach the semis — and once again she was ready to go the distance. After failing to convert any of her first eight break point opportunities, the American seventh seed finally got the breakthrough on her ninth to take a 3-1 lead.
Another break for 5-1 sent her mother into raptures in the player’s box and one game later it was all level.
After two one-sided sets, both players displayed their incredible ball-striking ability, producing ferocious forehands and breathtaking backhands, as they went toe-to-toe in a captivating decider.
Gauff had two chances to break for a 5-4 lead but once 10th seed Muchova used her get-out-of-jail free card to wriggle out of that spot of bother, there was no stopping her. (Agencies)
