How a glimpse of the big prize inspired Linda Noskova’s fightback

Checking out the Wimbledon trophy during a bathroom break was the inspiration behind the third-set fightback of champion Linda Noskova, the third Czech player in the last four years to win the coveted crown.

The ninth seed was in serious danger of capitulating in her bid for a maiden Grand Slam title when she squandered five match points to blow a 5-2 lead in a chaotic second set on Centre Court after rushing through the opening set 6-2.

The 21-year-old hid her head in a towel and wiped away tears of frustration after her fellow Czech and close friend Karolina Muchova levelled the final at one-set all.

Noskova trudged sadly towards the locker room in a bid to recompose herself for the final set.

On that walk she noticed the Venus Rosewater Dish gleaming in a trophy cabinet alongside the runners-up shield.

The thought of having to make do with the losers' consolation prize shook Noskova out of self-doubt and she stormed back to take the title in the final set.

"I was just telling myself that the match is starting over. I was in the bathroom. I just splashed some cold water on me, started over again," she said.

"But what really helped me, the first step I took off court, the trophies were there. I was like, 'I'm not going to take the small one, I'm taking the big one. I have been so close. This will probably be the heartbreak of my life'.

"If I'm going to leave my soul on court in the third set, whatever that be. I just kind of started to focus on myself all over again, which was the key point."

Noskova admitted the pressure-packed situation had overwhelmed her in the second set as the match points slipped through her grasp across three different games.

"My hand kind of froze at certain moments. My feet were not as quick as they had been before," she said.

When her next match point arrived, this time she seized the moment, sealing a life-changing 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory before falling to the turf in joy and disbelief.

Noskova is the youngest women's champion since another Czech, Petra Kvitova won in 2011.

Fittingly, two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova was watching from the royal box and she congratulated Noskova, who idolised her as a child, when they met in the Centre Court lounge after the match.

Noskova follows in the footsteps of fellow Czech Wimbledon winners Marketa Vondrousova and Barbora Krejcikova in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

For the champion, holding aloft the silverware validated her moment of clarity less than an hour earlier in the corridors of Centre Court.

It still wasn't enough to mask the painful memory of her mother Ivana's death from cancer two years ago.

Unable to hold back the tears, Noskova paid tribute to her before blowing a kiss to the sky.