THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 8, 2026

Linda Noskova

Press Conference

L. NOSKOVA/E. Mertens

6-3, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Linda, could you just give us a little bit of some thoughts on the match.

LINDA NOSKOVA: Well, it was a great match overall. Elise, she's a very dangerous player, especially on grass with her game style. I was trying to stay focused.

I was a little nervous 'cause I have never been at such stage in this tournament. But I feel like it kind of got off of me after, like, the first few games. So it was all good.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Your next opponent will be Marta Kostyuk. What do you think about Marta as an opponent in semifinal?

LINDA NOSKOVA: Well, she's a really tough one. She doesn't really give up. She's trying to play as fast and as aggressive as possible. We've had a match in Madrid, which did not really go well for me. I wasn't feeling too comfy on court. I will definitely try to change some things this time.

Yeah, she's on a pretty good match streak, I would say, now. It's going to be a tough one.

Q. You're in really good form in the last couple of years, on grass specifically. What is it about the surface that makes you feel comfortable or suitable for your game?

LINDA NOSKOVA: I feel like I can use a lot of sides of my tennis. I can use a lot of dropshots, slices, approaches to the net, I can use my serve a lot. Just my game style helps me throughout all the tough times.

Yeah, I feel like I started to feel comfortable on grass last year. It was just me looking forward to the next year on the grass season. It's good that I'm looking forward for something. Then you feel comfy on court.

Q. What was the key to managing your nerves? Do you think having gone through them on this match is going to help you in the semis?

LINDA NOSKOVA: I would say that these two matches are going to be very different. Marta, she's trying to, like I said, be always aggressive. I would say that Elise, she's trying to be more creative from time to time.

With Marta, we've had a match on clay, which is a completely different surface than this one. I believe it will be a different match, as well.

Q. You and all the other quarterfinalists who won had the same reaction after you won, kind of like disbelief. Why is it so hard to believe? You're all really good tennis players. You're playing well. At the same time, each player is sort of more dumbfounded than the next as to why they're in the semifinals. What's the root of your disbelief?

LINDA NOSKOVA: It's that I don't know how to celebrate really (smiling). I never know what to do really. I don't know about other players. For me, it was a kind of disbelief.

I'm still kind of down on earth, so I don't expect me to win every single match that I play. Even when I'm feeling great on court, it doesn't mean that I have to automatically win. Some matches are just unlucky. This one could have been one of them. You always have to cherish these moments when you actually win the match.

Q. You're the youngest first-time major semifinalist here since Petra Kvitova in 2010. Was she an inspiration to you, and have you got to know her at all?

LINDA NOSKOVA: Yeah, we had two matches against each other, actually. Both of those, I was just kind of stunned that I was on the same court with "the" Petra Kvitova. As a kid, I was always looking up to her. She was kind of, like, when I didn't really know much about tennis, she was the face of Czech tennis.

When she won two Wimbledons, yeah, I was definitely the one that noticed that. Maybe she helped me to get into tennis a little bit. But for me, she's such a person to look up to.

Q. How does it feel to be emulating her now, following in her footsteps here?

LINDA NOSKOVA: I would love to follow her in her footsteps. If the outcome's going to be the same, I would love nothing more.

Q. There have been many Czech-born players that have conquered Wimbledon. Where do you draw the biggest inspiration?

LINDA NOSKOVA: I would say the history that the players before us have always been great. I mean, the Czech tennis female players have always been incredible. If you look at 10 years back, 20, 30, there's always just been someone.

We kind of still keep on going and keep on having great juniors and youngsters coming up. It's great to see that the country is not stopping tennis.

But I feel like for me it has always been the fact that us as such a small country, we can definitely do big things in the world if we look up to the people that did it.

Q. When did you first play on a grass court? What were your first feelings of it?

LINDA NOSKOVA: I played on grass court, I feel like it was 2023. I had a first hit, I remember it, with Barbora Strycova. She was coming back. I think it was Nottingham. We had a first hit. I was so lost. I was so lost.

She had all these great results on grass. It was tough to kind of match her rhythm. She's also someone that I looked up to. It was fun to play with such an experienced player.

Q. You didn't know that you would love grass?

LINDA NOSKOVA: I had no idea. I wouldn't say that I would love grass in the future at that point (smiling).