The Czech-born Wimbledon champions:

So why is the Czech Republic, a country of only 11 million people, punching above its weight on grass? Well, of course it all started with Martina Navratilova, the most famous Czech-born player of all, and despite her defection to the US in 1975, before she won her nine Wimbledon singles titles, she still inspired Hana Mandlikova, Helena Sukova and Jana Novotna … who were then followed by Petra Kvitova, Karolina Pliskova, Barbora Krejcikova and Marketa Vondrousova … and now Muchova and Noskova. Success breeds success.

“We have a great history of Czech tennis,” Muchova said after her semi-final. “Definitely the fact there is so many of us. When I was younger, looking up to the girls who were maybe five years older than I was, you can just see them doing so well. It gave me the belief that I can as well do it. That’s how it worked for me. It’s nice that we’re from such a small country and we have so many good players.”

Muchova was also encouraged to play a wide range of sports when she was growing up, as was Noskova, which perhaps also helped their development, not specialising too soon. Plus the fact that Czech tennis coaches also encourage another sense of variety; playing not only with power but also touch and intelligence, which is such a lethal combination on the grass. And there are so many clubs in the country too.

“We are all kind of brought up in the same way, in our game styles,” Noskova said. “We are very creative, I would say, so grass allows us to use any side of tennis, if it’s serve and volley back in the old days, if it’s slices and volleys in this new era. I would say that we have all these sides that we can use, that grass allows us, and it’s showing.”

Muchova
1R def Anastasia Zakharova 6-3, 6-2
2R def Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-2
3R def Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-2, 7-6
4R def Barbora Krejcikova 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
QF def Naomi Osaka (14) 7-6, 6-4
SF def Coco Gauff (7) 6-2, 1-6, 7-6

Noskova
1R def Ella Seidel 6-4, 6-3
2R def Camila Osorio 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
3R def Sorana Cirstea (17) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6
4R def Madison Keys (26) 6-4, 7-6
QF def Elise Mertens (25) 6-3, 7-5
SF def Marta Kostyuk (12) 6-4, 6-4

Road to the final. Muchova has a strange record at Wimbledon, having reached the quarter-finals in 2019 and 2021, before losing in the first round in each of the past four years, but she didn’t drop a set this fortnight until the fourth round, when she defeated her fellow Czech and the 2024 champion, Barbora Krejcikova. She was flawless against Naomi Osaka (who’d been flawless against Aryna Sabalenka) in the quarters and nerveless against Coco Gauff, perhaps the most clutch player in the women’s game, in the semis, when she saved a match point. Noskova has also come within a point of defeat, escaping against Sorana Cirsta in the third round, but she hasn’t conceded a set since, knocking out last year’s Australian Open champion Madison Keys and the in-form Marta Kostyuk, one of the hottest players on tour this summer.

Tale of the tape

Muchova - Noskova
29 Age 21
10 Seeding 9
9 World ranking 12
0 Grand slam titles 0
1 Grand slam finals (before today) 0
3 Singles titles 2
0 Previous Wimbledon finals 0
1 Head-to-head 0

And the Press Association’s report on the doubles double for Patten and Heliovaara:

Britain’s Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara won the Wimbledon men’s doubles title with a 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/3) victory over Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic in Saturday’s final.

Top seeded Patten and Heliovaara have now won three Grand Slam doubles titles together, having previously triumphed at Wimbledon in 2024 and the Australian Open last year.

Patten and Finland’s Heliovaara are the 11th team in the Open era to win multiple Wimbledon men’s doubles titles and the first since Bob and Mike Bryan won their second at the All England Club in 2011.

Arevalo, from El Salvador, won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title with Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko on Thursday.

Patten and Heliovaara had done things the hard way en route to the final, contesting final-set tie-breaks in three of their five matches.

They had won six of the seven tie-breaks they were involved in prior to the final.

Once again, that nerveless ability to conquer the tie-break pressure proved decisive.

Avenging their loss to the same opponents in the Queen’s Club final in June, Heliovaara celebrated with a flamboyant forward roll on Centre Court, while Patten lay flat on his back to soak up the moment.

“I owe Harri my career, when we started out he took a chance on me,” Patten said.

Speaking of which … here’s Simon Cambers’s preview of the women’s final:

It feels somehow fitting that at the end of one of the most open women’s singles events in history, two Czech players should find themselves fighting it out for the biggest title in the game. Saturday’s clash between Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova is the first all-Czech Wimbledon final, but it is also the latest example of a long line of Czech players who have found grass the surface on which to show their best.

Martina Navratilova, perhaps the greatest female player of all time, started the ball rolling when she won the first of her record nine Wimbledon titles in 1978 (she was officially a US citizen by the time she played Hana Mandlikova in the 1986 final).

Jana Novotna won in 1998, Petra Kvitova triumphed twice, in 2011 and 2014, and with Marketa Vondrousova winning in 2023 and Barbora Krejcikova following up in 2024, it means that whoever wins on Saturday will provide Czechia with a third Wimbledon champion in four years and sixth of the open era.

It is a remarkable achievement, a conveyor belt of talent that must be the envy of the rest of the world. Muchova will be appearing in her second grand slam final, having lost to Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros in 2023 while the 21-year-old Noskova, eight years younger and seeded one spot higher at No 9, is appearing in her first.

Both women won grass-court titles in the run-up to Wimbledon.

In terms of experience, Muchova has a clear edge and a game that would seem perfect for grass, even if her record at Wimbledon has been somewhat odd.

She reached the quarter-finals in her first two appearances but has lost in the first round in each of the last four years. Injuries, confidence and occasionally someone playing out of her skin were all contributing factors, but she has everything: a good serve, fine athleticism, power, a great slice and variety.

You can read the rest here:

Meanwhile Jana Kovackova and Katerina Zajickova have won the girls’ doubles title … as if the Czechs don’t already have enough talent …

There was also victory for Britain’s Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid earlier in the men’s wheelchair doubles final, as the top seeds came from a set down to beat Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez and Japan’s Tokito Oda 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. It’s their seventh Wimbledon doubles title together. Hewett – and Oda – will be back tomorrow to contest the singles final.

“I think this is a fantastic example of the joy doubles can bring,” continues Patten, referencing the ATP’s plans to reduce doubles draws and cut prize money. “I believe we should be growing opportunities in tennis for kids, whether they’re doubles players, singles players, from the UK, Finland, Croatia, El Salvador … we should be growing the sport, not taking opportunities away.” He then reveals his fiancee isn’t in the stands, because she’s a doctor and has been on call all week. “I hit a yellow tennis ball and she saves lives. I’m so proud of her for what she does, she works way harder than me.” He shouldn’t be doing himself down too much, though. The Wimbledon title in 2024, the Australian Open in 2025 and now Wimbledon again in 2026. What a team Patten and Heliovaara are.

Heliovaara is in tears; Patten just can’t stop smiling. And now it’s time to collect the trophy. Gone are the days when the doubles champions would have to trudge up into the Royal Box, as the All England Club chair, Debbie Jevans, presents the trophy to the duo on court.

“It’s unbelievable, doing it twice,” says Heliovaara. “I want to thank Henry for being the best partner in the world.” Patten quips: “I owe Harri my career. When I started with Harri, he took a chance on me … and it turned out to be the best decision he ever made.”