Good morning everyone – We have off days for both the World Cup and the Tour de France today, and I don\u2019t think anyone is that interested in the tennis tournaments in Gstad, Umag, or Bastad . The great news is this gives us lots of time to talk about Wimbledon.<\/p>\n
This time we\u2019re going to be focusing on just the women\u2019s final, where Linda Noskova defeated her Czech countrywoman Karolina Muchova 6-2 5-7 6-3. Noskova raced out ahead to a 6-2 5-2 lead before the nerves of her first Grand Slame title got to her, and Muchova saved several championship points to force a third set.<\/p>\n
But then Noskova settled early on and, like the first set, overpowered the crafty Muchova.<\/p>\n
For those of you who might\u2019ve not watched the game, there are a couple things between the second and third sets worth noting:<\/p>\n
Noskova plugged her ears after the end of the second set to block out the noiseShe stared down the Venus Rosewater Dish before the third set began<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a pretty bold move to do something like that, but Noskova showed incredible poise for almost the entirety of the match. Aside from those five games at the end of the second, it was clear that his was her match to lose.<\/p>\n
Muchova is a terrific player who has modeled her game after Roger Federer. Perhaps that\u2019s why she\u2019s so beloved by tennis fans with that lovely chip-backhand, the way she runs around to hit her forehand (very Federer-esque) and her crisp volleys.<\/p>\n
Yet she made a few mistakes in her return game. She tried to force Noskova to serve it to her backhand, but the 21-year-old kept pushing Muchova to the backhand side, which was especially deadly on the advantage side of the court.<\/p>\n
I think what struck me the most, though, was the on-court ceremony after the match. I wanted both players to win (I would\u2019ve preferred Muchova – see above). But they\u2019re both very good for women\u2019s tennis. And there are times we learn a little bit more about the champions of the sport, like how we learned about Noskova on Saturday:<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s another fun fact for you all: For those of you who don\u2019t know the tennis calendar, the offseason is very short (mayne no more than a few weeks). Noskova spent some of her time during the offseason to volunteer in Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania.<\/p>\n
There she volunteered at a school of 300 pupils, living in a volunteer house with shared rooms. Here\u2019s a quick quote from the WTA site<\/a> from December: \u201cThis trip opened my eyes in ways I didn\u2019t expect, and it reminded me how fortunate we are — an experience I believe everyone should have at least once in their life.\u201d<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s win is a huge jump for Noskova, whose best result at a Grand Slam before this was the quarterfinals of the 2024 Australian Open. She\u2019s actually had some pretty disappointing major tournaments before Wimbledon, and it\u2019d be great if this one unlocked something in her game.<\/p>\n She moves up to Number 6 in the world.<\/p>\n Fitzie\u2019s track of the day: Solitude, by Billie Holiday<\/p>\n BBC<\/a>: \u201cEngland have another level we can reach – Kane\u201d<\/p>\n The Telegraph<\/a>: \u201cFifa looking at 64-team World Cup, says Gianni Infantino\u201d<\/p>\n