It also meant that for the third time in four years, a Czech will hold aloft the Venus Rosewater Dish, after the triumphs of Marketa Vondrousova in 2023 and Barbora Krejcikova in 2024.<\/p>\n
All those dreams were on the verge of vanishing within a blink of an eye for Muchova when Gauff stood at match point at 9-8 in the tie-break, but the American left the spellbound crowd gasping as she produced a howler.<\/p>\n
Hesitating for a fraction of a second, her \u200cattempt at a dropshot ended with the ball being dumped into the net.<\/p>\n
Rollercoaster tie-break to decide match<\/p>\n
Muchova was among those who could scarcely believe the drama unfolding during an electrifying tie-break where she had surged to a 4-1 lead, extended that to 6-3, before Gauff defied logic to reach match point first.<\/p>\n
But as Gauff discovered, the gulf between reaching match point and converting match point is as wide as the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sounds really nice to be in the final. It was such a big fight. It was a rollercoaster; you\u2019re up and down,\u201d a beaming Muchova, still trying to catch her breath, told the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 10 seconds, you have a match point, then you\u2019re match point down. There\u2019s no time to think, but very nerve-racking. I don\u2019t even know what I\u2019m saying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really shaking and trying to let it sink in, but the atmosphere here \u2013 indescribable.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the duo last met in the \u2060semifinal of a major at the 2023 US Open, climate protesters, including one who glued their feet to the cement floor of the stands, \u2060disrupted play for almost 50 minutes.<\/p>\n
At least this time, it was the players creating all the excitement.<\/p>\n
Furnace on Centre Court<\/p>\n
No one would have guessed that Muchova is allergic to grass, and requires \u201ca lot of pills, sprays, eyedrops\u201d just to step onto the most famous patch of turf in tennis.<\/p>\n
While spectators struggled to stay cool in the furnace-like atmosphere on Centre Court, Muchova\u2019s pick-and-mix variety of grass-court craft shone brightly as she broke Gauff in the third \u2060and fifth games, with the American surrendering her serve for the second time by wildly misfiring a forehand into the back hoardings.<\/p>\n
A 179km\/h (111mph) ace sealed the set for Muchova and put her within touching distance of a first Wimbledon final.<\/p>\n
However, no one can accuse Gauff of holding up \u2060the white flag when the going gets tough, or even taking the easy route, as she survived four successive three-setters to reach the semis \u2013 and once again, she was ready to go the distance.<\/p>\n
![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/afp_6a4fe2c6ea73-1783620294.jpg\")
US player Coco Gauff returns to Czech Republic\u2019s Karolina Muchova during their women\u2019s singles semifinal tennis match of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, on July 9, 2026 [Henry Nichols\/AFP]Gauff knows she got close<\/p>\n
After failing to convert any of her first eight break-point opportunities, the American finally got the breakthrough on her ninth to take a 3-1 lead.<\/p>\n
Another break for 5-1 sent her mother into raptures in the player\u2019s box, and one game later, it was all level.<\/p>\n
After two one-sided sets, both protagonists displayed their incredible ball-striking ability, producing ferocious forehands and breathtaking \u200cbackhands, as they went toe-to-toe in a captivating decider.<\/p>\n
Gauff had two chances to break for a 5-4 lead, but once Muchova used her get-out-of-jail-free card to wriggle out of that spot of bother, there was no stopping her.<\/p>\n
She produced all the goods in the match tie-break, including the outrageous diving volley winner, and also lobbed Gauff to earn her first match point.<\/p>\n
While \u200cthat one \u200cwent begging, she made no mistake on the second, and held her arms aloft in victory after watching the American dump a forehand into the net to end the 2-hour, 35-minute spectacle.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously got super close. Definitely going to think about the second, third, last point, whatever. A match for sure to remember. It\u2019s tough to digest. I left it all out there,\u201d summed up Gauff.<\/p>\n
Gauff expecting hate messages after loss<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old said she was expecting to receive hate messages online after missing the match point against Muchova.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be online. Probably already got some hate comments and stuff. It\u2019s OK. Just makes you stronger,\u201d said Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cBettors who lose, who are mad and stuff. It\u2019s the usual. It sucks, but it\u2019s like, whatever.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll come on the winning end next time, and I\u2019ll be sure to tag them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several players in recent years have spoken out about hateful messages on social media, including death threats.<\/p>\n
In January 2024, tennis\u2019s governing bodies launched an AI tool called the \u201cThreat Matrix\u201d to monitor social media abuse of players.<\/p>\n
The WTA and ITF later said that analysts had verified approximately 8,000 messages as \u201cabusive, violent or threatening\u201d in 2024, highlighting \u201cangry gamblers increasingly targeting players\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A single-minded focus despite prior injuries allowed Czechia\u2019s Karolina Muchova to end Coco Gauff\u2019s incredible run in their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":792323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,3456,457,82,593,127],"class_list":["post-792322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-europe","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-united-kingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}