Wimbledon 2026 - Linda Noskova : "Il faudra que je regarde les photos pour m'en rendre compte"

Linda, vous avez fait le premier Grand Slam final. Comment vous vous sentez? Je ne sais pas comment je vous sentez vraiment. Il a été un bon match. Je restais calme le temps, ce qui était le majeur pour moi, donc je suis plus ou moins satisfait.

Hi Linda, c'est un peu surpris par votre encore tenue quand vous disiez que vous n'avez pas regardé tennis quand vous étiez jeune. So I was just wondering, how did you start tennis? Was it your parents who pushed you into this job?

Yeah, it was my parents. They started to play just for fun. My mom has always been a big fan of tennis, but she never played it before. But when they started, I was kind of like running around the court and just trying to, you know, do what my parents do. and it turned into a hobby and it turned into this, I guess. So I've had a lot of hobbies, so I'm glad I picked tennis.

Hi Linda, congratulations. Can you go through some of your thoughts and emotions on the match point after you won?

I couldn't really believe it, I guess. You always want to be in those moments, you always want to win these big matches, but when it actually happens, you don't know how to react or kind of realize it. But I always realize any success or any great matches or a good tournament after it's all done. So right now, I feel like I am already focusing on the final. So yeah, after the tournament. Charlie?

Well done Linda. I just wondered, how well you know Carolina and if you can remember when you first met her or watch some of her matches when you were a bit younger?

Yeah, well, we have never really met before until a couple of years ago as I came on tour. But she's a great player, a great person especially. We got to know each other a lot during Olympics a couple of years ago. So we spent a lot of time together because we played doubles and almost got the medal. But I feel like that was the main week for us to kind of get to know each other. I didn't really know her well before. So yeah, this was the main event.

Did you watch her when she got to the French Open final a few years ago and she played Iger?

Yeah, yeah. I was watching it. I was obviously cheering for Carolina. I always like to see any fellow Czech players to have any success.

Yes Linda. Congratulations. Let's be back a few weeks back. After Roland-Garros, before Berlin, did you feel that you have in you the results you are achieving since Berlin with this title, with this run to the final? Did you feel something in the way you grew up in your game, in your attitude that could lead you there?

No, it always comes out of nowhere, I guess. You can really plan your success or good times. If I could do it, I would definitely be planning it on every Grand Slam. But after Roland-Garros, I was very, let's say, mentally tired, because the clay season was long for me. I've had a lot of good matches, a lot of great tournaments, but French Open was a disaster for me. So I kind of had to restart, reset, focus on just enjoying the time on court, and this is where it got me. So at this stage, I would say that it's not about the big things, you know, it's about the small percentage.

Linda, how would you explain this love affair that the Czech players have with Wimbledon? And going back to Martina Novotlov, who actually won as a U.S. citizen, Czech, of course. Then Jananov Votna, Petra Kvitova, and all the others that have won this decade. Is there an explanation that you can find or tell us?

I don't know. It's a tradition at this point, I guess. But I would say that we are all kind of brought up in the same way in Czechia, in our game styles, in our tennis. But in some ways, we are very different, but we are very creative, I would say. So grass allows us to kind of use any side of tennis. If it's serve and volley back in the old days, if it's slices and volleys, you know, in this new era. I would say that we are kind of, we have all these sides that we can use. The grass allows us, and it's showing.

Thank you, Linda. Yeah, but both Marta and Elise praised the way we were serving, the consistency of it, the efficiency. Have you tweaked anything on that shot, or is it just a matter of you finding your tempo on it? My serve? Yeah, your serve.

I have been working on my serve for a couple of years now. It has been a great help for me, you know, for lately. And, you know, obviously on grass court or hard courts, you can use your serve as the most powerful tool. So I always try to just focus on myself when I have my service game. And whatever happens on the, you know, return games happens. It's not really, you know, in my power all the time. But my serve is what I focus the most on.

Congratulations. I'm wondering, do you remember in your childhood when someone talked about Wimbledon, that it's really the tournament to win or a dream for many players? When you started, maybe in your family or a coach, do you remember this moment? And what happened when you entered the central court?

As a kid, I would say that I took all the tournaments the same. I didn't even know what or how much it takes to get here. Obviously, as a kid, you have no clue if I would have known how hard it is. But how beautiful it is, I definitely would have done it again. But as a kid, I had no idea how special this tournament and known this tournament is. But today, walking on the center court, we did have, with Karolina, actually, we had a warm-up there this morning. And it was my first ever time being there, not even as a spectator. So it was a nice moment. But I would say that I have not even realized it still, because I was focusing on the match. Now I'm focusing on the next match.

Like I said, after the whole tournament finishes, I guess I will have to look at the photos to believe all this.

Thank you.

Ben?

Congratulations.

Remember, even when I was with you in Berlin a week ago, you got questions also there about what makes Czech women's tennis special. And it's a question Czech players have been getting a lot, you know, over the last many years, as the success has been there. How have you sort of learned to handle this question and to think about Czech tennis and your own sort of theories and answers about it? Because it's for all the Czech players for the last, you know, 10, 15 years, they get asked about this a lot.

Yeah, I always try to come up with something creative or something new. It's always the same question and the same answer. I don't know, we have so many tennis schools in Czech, even though we're such a small country, we have so many great coaches that have been working with, you know, worldwide greatest players. I really don't know, if I knew, I guess all the other countries would have been doing the same thing, but I'm proud of our country for having all these, you know, great champions. Monique.

Hey, Linda. Congrats. I'm curious, this is a bit random, but I'm curious about your relationship with your phone. I see, like, on Instagram, you sometimes give, you know, your thoughts and opinions on things, so I'm curious how much you use your phone in general and social media. And how much are you using it during this tournament run? Like, are you using it less or is it pretty normal and relaxed for you?

I would say I'm using it very, very not much. Especially during a tournament, because you don't really want to get distracted a lot or, you know, not even generally. I don't look at myself or Google myself to see what anyone wrote about me, because it's the internet. You cannot really believe everything that is said, but I have a great relationship with my phone, I guess. But social media or just the social world is not really the most enjoyable place for me, so I try to spend as little time as possible.

Cedric, did you have a question? Yes, I wanted to answer another question, but I forgot it because I thought I wouldn't have the time. Give me five seconds. Anyone else? That's a girl. What are you remembering? I've seen on your Instagram, I think, people, you post some talks about environmental issues. How did you get interested in that and how important is that to you? Do you think being in this green field of grass makes you just happy?

Do you think it's that? I'll bring grass with me to every tournament now. No, I have always been very interested about the environment. I grew up in a small village in a forest, basically, so I'm very much like a nature lover, I guess. Actually, like a little sneak peek, I want to do some volunteering with nature in the next months or years, so I have always been, you know, very active during whatever crisis there might have been happening, but after I finish my career, I definitely want to do something environmentally related. Yes, I have it.

Do you feel you play the tennis of your life at the moment or maybe in the past you had the same game without the reward because you impressed a lot your latest two opponents? What's your feeling about it?

I think I'm playing great tennis. It's always when I feel good and relaxed off-court. It's probably when it shows the most on-court. You know, at this stage, like I said, everybody has the level. It's just the small percent that makes the biggest difference. So I feel like I'm using my game, my game style on grass a lot, and it's paying off.

Okay, we'll take one more English. Obviously, the two sets today, they were very similar in terms of the serves were being passed on until you kind of broke in the final game. It was very similar against your game against Madison Keys as well in the first set. I was wondering if that's like a pattern that you see happen a lot in your games. Do you enjoy kind of passing on serve and then taking that final shot at the end? Have you noticed it at all?

I haven't noticed it, but obviously this scenario is the greatest of me. You know, I always try to focus on my serve first just to keep my service games. And then, like I said, whatever happens on the return games happens. It's not always in my part to control those games. But, well, if I could have all these sets like this, it would have been the easiest, you know. It's always just one break for each set, but it's never really that easy, unfortunately. Okay, thank you. We will switch to check questions now, please.

Thank you.