Women's semi-finalists in uncharted territory at Wimbledon / Photo: © AFP
Women's semi-finalists in uncharted territory at Wimbledon
Coco Gauff, Karolina Muchova, Marta Kostyuk and Linda Noskova all have their sights set on reaching a first Wimbledon final as they make their last-four debuts at the All England Club.
Only Gauff of that quartet has ever won a Grand Slam title, making the American the favourite to get her hands on the Venus Rosewater Dish presented to the women's champion.
AFP Sport looks at the women's semi-final action on the 11th day of the tournament (x denotes seeding):
Coco Gauff (USA x7) v Karolina Muchova (CZE x10)
Gauff leads head to head 6-1
-- Gauff is a two-time major winner and the highest ranked player left in the women's event, but the 22-year-old's bewildered expression as she shouted 'how?' towards her coaches after reaching a maiden Wimbledon semi-final told an entirely different story.
For a player who stunned Venus Williams on her Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon aged 15, Gauff has been surprisingly uncomfortable on the lawns of south-west London, failing to make the quarter-finals on her six previous visits.
"It feels really special considering the results I've had of late and just especially on this surface," Gauff said of her run.
"If you told me I would be in the semis of this tournament, I'd be, 'You're funny'. I've found a bit of a breakthrough on grass."
The American, aiming to win a first Grand Slam since the 2025 French Open, has dominated against Muchova, beating her in the 2023 US Open semi-finals and the Australian Open last 16 this year.
In her first Wimbledon semi-final, Muchova hopes to reach a second Grand Slam final after finishing as runner-up in the 2023 French Open.
But the 29-year-old, who had lost in the first round on her previous four appearances at Wimbledon, is well aware of the tenacious Gauff's qualities.
"She's just a great athlete overall. One of the best in our sport. She has a lot of weapons. She is a big fighter. A lot of things to her game to make it awkward for me," said Muchova, who takes "pills, sprays, eyedrops" to manage a grass allergy.
Linda Noskova (CZE x9) v Marta Kostyuk (UKR x12)
Kostyuk leads head to head 1-0
-- Kostyuk powered into a second successive Grand Slam semi-final with a ruthless straight-sets victory over former Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini.
The 24-year-old had never previously made it past the third round at Wimbledon and was beaten in round one last year.
But Kostyuk has won 21 of her last 22 matches, with her only defeat coming in the French Open semi-finals against Mirra Andreeva in June.
She is set to climb into the world's top 10 next week for the first time in her career, having been just 28th in the rankings as recently as April.
"I was on this court as a spectator once nine years ago watching Roger (Federer) and to be back here as a player is amazing. I walked past the 'wall of honour', stood beside it and took a moment," she said after beating Paolini on Wimbledon's historic Centre Court.
The red-hot Kostyuk will pose a stern test for Noskova, who made her first Wimbledon semi-final with a straight-sets win against Belgian 25th seed Elise Mertens.
In only her second Grand Slam quarter-final, following her run at the 2024 Australian Open, Noskova sealed a place in the last four of a Grand Slam for the first time.
The 21-year-old is the youngest Wimbledon semi-finalist since Jelena Ostapenko in 2018.
In the lead up to Wimbledon, Noskova won the Berlin Open for her first grass-court title.
She has taken that impressive form into the All England Club, dispatching former Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the last 16 before brushing aside Mertens.
"It will be a tough one. None of these matches are easy and Marta is an incredible player. It's going to be a battle," Noskova said.
V.Vega--LGdM
