Linda Noskova has spent almost her entire life working towards mastering her sport. She began travelling around Czechia, Europe and then the world for tournaments before she was a teenager. Her life decisions have revolved around tennis for as long as she can remember.
Those early years prepared Noskova for the challenge of winning her first grand slam title, but the biggest lesson from her triumph at Wimbledon last month has been her lack of preparedness for everything that followed. The world did not come to a halt upon the completion of her ultimate goal. Life continues at the same pace, and now she must find her place in the sport once more.
It has now been six weeks since Noskova won Wimbledon at 21 years old under remarkable circumstances against her elder compatriot Karolina Muchova. She had appeared to be blazing through to an easy victory in the final before she squandered five match points and found herself fighting for her life in a third set. Noskova’s recovery to win the title was one of the most impressive mental performances in years.
After her initial celebrations and the champions’ dinner, she returned to Czechia for her homecoming. So whatever came, that was a big surprise.” Noskova says the week at home was “crazy and chaos”. Having spent her early years flying under the radar of fans and the media, her return generated intense attention as she tried to capitalise on her success.
All the new people or all the new opportunities that I had and all the new tasks that I had to do so it was a busy week.” After “managing to steal a few days abroad” in Italy, it was already time to return to practice and look ahead. The tennis circuit moves at such a relentless pace and for every other player on tour Wimbledon had long been old news. Noskova returned to competition with a straight-sets defeat against the then world No 70 Caty McNally, in Toronto, but she fared better in Cincinnati winning two rounds before defeat by the world No 10, Amanda Anisimova, in the last 16.
Her excellent performances in doubles, where the pressure is off and expectations are nonexistent, provided her with a reminder that she is still striking the ball sweetly. She won the women’s doubles title in Cincinnati alongside her countrywoman Marie Bouzkova. Many grand slam title winners say their first major triumph increased their desperation to win big championships rather than satisfying it.
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