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… and outrageous serve-volley from Muchova backs up that mini break, and then she slams down one of her fastest serves of the match, 113mph, for 4-1!
After all of the injury problems Muchova has had throughout her career, it would be a huge shame if this is decided by another injury. Muchova claims the first mini-break, though, for 2-1, when Gauff, after a near-flawless performance at the net in this set, errs with her backhand volley …
Third set: Muchova* 6-2, 1-6, 6-6 Gauff (*denotes next server)
Muchova, moving a little slower and wincing and bending over after every point, still manages to chase down the drop at 40-30 … but hits wide. If she makes it through this semi-final, will she be OK for the final? Hopefully it’s just a stitch because of the heat and stress of this situation. Which is about to get a whole load more stressful, because we’ve got ourselves a match tie-break!
Third set: Muchova 6-2, 1-6, 6-5 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
At 0-15, Gauff batters to one corner and then the other for the winner! 0-30 on Muchova’s serve … Gauff’s return is so close to landing for another winner and three break points … but it’s just long. A collective Wimblegasp follows and it’s 15-30. A lengthy point follows, forehands, backhands, slicing, dicing, net rushing, volleys, you name it … and Muchova is victorious! 30-all. She takes a bit longer before serving, trying to regain her breath, and it works, because the Czech crunches a winner. But she’s wincing in pain and holding her abs; perhaps she’s pulled something. She still manages to take the next point, however, to hold.
Third set: Muchova* 6-2, 1-6, 5-5 Gauff (*denotes next server)
Gauff, now serving to stay in the semi-final, gratefully accepts a Muchova error on the first point, before quickly grabbing the second poing at the net. And 30-0 becomes 40-15 after some more assured net play; she’s been absolutely terrific there in this set. Muchova’s forehand then flies beyond the baseline and. They’re. Level. Once. More.
Third set: Muchova 6-2, 1-6, 5-4 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
At one set all, four games all and 30-all, the stakes couldn’t be higher; a few wrong moves from either player and the semi-final could soon be over. Will it be game point or break point? Break point, when Gauff punishes a weak second serve and Muchova prods long! But Gauff, remember, has won only two of 11 BPs this match. And she doesn’t take this one either, despite a tame 80mph second serve right at her favoured backhand. That was an opportunity missed. She gets another BP, though, with a brilliant and gutsy drop shot, lob and smash combo! Muchova can’t buy a first serve right now, she lands the second … and Gauff goes edgily wide! And Muchova somehow escapes from there! That game will be keeping Gauff awake tonight if she doesn’t win.
Third set: Muchova* 6-2, 1-6, 4-4 Gauff (*denotes next server)
But now it’s Gauff’s turn to send a statement that she’s not going anywhere: 15-0, 30-0, 40-0. She’s hit only one double fault today, which given the regularity at which her serve can break down, is very impressive. And Gauff takes the game after the point of the match – Gauff immoveable at the net, Muchova staying in it from the baseline – until Gauff eventually emerges victorious! Cue one of the biggest cheers from the crowd so far. They don’t want this to end and neither do I.
Third set: Muchova 6-2, 1-6, 4-3 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
Muchova turns up the heat with a commanding hold to 15. Not much more to write here; that was emphatic. Now I’m leaning towards Muchova – I just can’t make up my mind – the head is clearly getting to me. Not Muchova, though, who has an ice pack on her head at the changeover. Right now she looks like the coolest person around.
Third set: Muchova* 6-2, 1-6, 3-3 Gauff (*denotes next server)
That pressure builds a little at 0-15, but Gauff is soon back at 15-all and then 30-15, and the Floridian, so comfortable in this Wimbledon sauna, is covering every blade of grass on the fourth point but a backhand volley from Muchova on the stretch – those hands! – makes it 30-all. And Gauff finds her serve when she needs it to get back on level terms. This match is building to its denouement, and if you really push me for an answer I’m going for Gauff, but Muchova hasn’t shown any signs of blinking so far …
Third set: Muchova 6-2, 1-6, 3-2 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
After two one-way sets, here’s hoping this one remains competitive until the very end, but this game has little intrigue, as Muchova eases to 15-0, 30-0, 40-0 and, despite Gauff taking the fourth point, Muchova makes no mistake from there. I feel the closer this gets to the finish line, Gauff is more likely than Muchova to hold her nerve, she’s Serena-like in her mental strength, but she does have the scoreboard pressure on her in this deciding set, serving second.
Third set: Muchova* 6-2, 1-6, 2-2 Gauff (*denotes next server)
The crowd are applauding Muchova’s touch as she drags Gauff one way before pulling off a forehand cross-court pass the other. So it’s 15-all on Gauff’s serve … and then Muchova rushes forward to put away the short ball. This is the furthest Muchova has advanced on the Gauff serve since midway through the second set and, desperate to take advantage, she moves to 15-40 and two break points, the first big moment of the deciding set. Gauff gets away with an unconvincing drop shot on the first, when Muchova slips! And is more assured on the second, extracting the error from a stinging serve! Deuce. Advantage Gauff. Game Gauff, after a messy miss from Muchova!
Third set: Muchova 6-2, 1-6, 2-1 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
Muchova doesn’t seem happy with the tension of her racket – it’s so hot today the balls are flying off it more quickly than normal – but she still navigates her way to 40-15 and puts the game on her side of the scoreboard when Gauff biffs a backhand into the net. Gauff has a 78% winning percentage in three-set matches at the grand slams, by the way, which is the best among any current players with more than six wins.
Third set: Muchova* 6-2, 1-6, 1-1 Gauff (*denotes next server)
Anything Muchova can do … Gauff accelerates to 15-0, 30-0, 40-0. But then blinks and it’s 40-30. Gauff should really wrap up the game when she lobs Muchova and has an easy smash … but she flashes it well wide! Well, well. After the momentum shift in the second set, could this match be about to swing back Muchova’s way? Gauff shows tremendous speed and de-fence to scramble to advantage … and survives when Muchova nets her return off a wobbly drop shot from Gauff. Muchova should really have done better.
Third set: Muchova 6-2, 1-6, 1-0 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
It’s remarkable to think, given the way Gauff has Gauffed her way back into this with her trademark fight, that she hadn’t won a match on grass in two years before this tournament. Muchova, meanwhile, hadn’t won a single match at Wimbledon since 2021, despite twice reaching the quarter-finals before that. But here they now are, giving us a semi-final to remember, and Muchova sends a strong message at the start of the third that she won’t roll over, as she claims a love hold.
Gauff wins the second set 6-1
This second set has basically gone the way the first did – but with the roles reversed and Gauff unstoppable instead of Muchova. 15-0, 30-0, 40-0, game and set Gauff! Cue a steely stare and a determined fist pump. She’s won four successive three-setters at this Wimbledon and now she’s surely the favourite to make it five. Muchova munches on a banana as she walks off court. One of the smartest and canniest players in the women’s game has got plenty to ponder.
Second set: Muchova 6-2, 1-5 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
The serve is usually one of Muchova’s strongest weapons, but her first-serve percentage is still below 50% as she concedes the first point and the third to fall 15-30 down. That third point is one for the highlights reel – with Gauff finding a brilliant angle on the volley to finish it. 15-30 morphs into 30-40 and Gauff is eyeing a double break. Gauff, slightly off-balance, nets her forehand, though. Before pulling off a fine volley similar to the one at 15-30! So break point No 2. And it’s a case of Czech mate for Muchova as Gauff, giving her little room to breathe, prevails.
Second set: Muchova* 6-2, 1-4 Gauff (*denotes next server)
Gauff gains even more control of the second set with a hold from deuce … absolutely hammering away a smash for her advantage and then rounding things off with an unreturned serve! The tide has turned in Gauff’s favour, as we’ve seen several times before at this tournament, and the break has been backed up.
Gauff breaks: Muchova 6-2, 1-3 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
Gauff, with a bit more zip in her shots now, powers her way to 0-15, 0-30, 0-40. It’s the second time Gauff’s had 0-40 on Muchova’s serve – can she finally break? Gauff’s forehand loops long on the first break point … she cracks a forehand into the net on the second … but Gauff gobbles up the drop shot on the third and fizzes away a wickedly angled backhand winner! At the ninth time of asking, Gauff has converted a break point and she’s roaring into the scorching Wimbledon skies!
Second set: Muchova* 6-2, 1-2 Gauff (*denotes next server)
Muchova’s coach, Sven Groeneveld, whose list of former charges includes no less than Monica Seles, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Mary Pierce, Michael Stich, Greg Rusedski and Maria Sharapova, among others, is shouting plenty of instructions to the Czech. But it doesn’t help Muchova much in this game, as Gauff enjoys her most comfortable of the semi-final so far, holding to love.
Second set: Muchova 6-2, 1-1 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
Gauff overcooks a forehand to give Muchova two game points at 40-15, and waves her hand in frustration. Muchova then goes old-school, opting for the serve-volley, but she clunks her volley into the net. It was the right tactic, though, keeping Gauff on her toes. A rare miss from Muchova on the backhand slice and it’s deuce. And then Gauff shows tremendous fight to withstand Muchova’s big hitting and put away a winning backhand volley! A break point for Gauff … but disappointingly a mis-hit follows. And Muchova makes her way through the next two points to hold.
Second set: Muchova* 6-2, 0-1 Gauff (*denotes next server)
Gauff certainly won’t be pushing the panic button yet. She was two points from defeat in the second round, and came from a set down in the last 16 and quarter-finals, against Belinda Bencic and Jessica Pegula respectively. She’s the ultimate competitor and is brilliant at finding a way to win, even when not at 100%. Against Pegula she turned things around by showing more aggression, especially on her forehand, but in the first game of the second set here it’s her serve that wraps up the hold, with back-to-back aces, the second on a second serve.
Muchova wins the first set 6-2
Gauff has the opening point on her racket when she appears in command at the net … but she plants her volley into it. 15-0. Gauff comes back at Muchova for 15-30 with a rasping return … a backhand winner from Muchova and a backhand error from Gauff follow … and it means Muchova has a set point at 40-30. And she seals it with her first ace! The Czech’s greater variety, despite landing only 41% of her first serves, combined with playing the break points better, has secured the set. And she’s the coolest woman in the (very hot) house as she puts an ice towel on her head at the changeover. Gauff has left the court to figure out how she can turn this around.
First set: Muchova* 5-2 Gauff (*denotes next server)
With Gauff serving to stay in the first set after less than half an hour, Muchova cuts Gauff up with viciously low slice for 15-all. Gauff gives Muchova a taste of her own crafty medicine for 40-15. But Muchova crushes a winner for 40-30 and extracts the error from Gauff for deuce after some more big hitting! The way Muchova marries power with variety is seriously impressive. A fabulous point follows … Gauff charging forward, volleying … and Muchova can’t make up the ground quickly enough to get the ball back. Advantage Gauff. Deuce. Advantage Gauff. Game Gauff. She stops the run of five games against her, but is it too late to save the set?
First set: Muchova 5-1 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
Hmm. Muchova promptly falls 0-40 down. Call that the commentator’s curse. Though Gauff has also upped her game, suddenly finding a bit more range on her forehand. But here’s another jarring change in momentum, as Muchova makes it back to deuce, courtesy of two winners and a forced error. And the Czech finds a way to hold from there, as Gauff bashes her ninth unforced error. The story of this match so far: Muchova has taken 2/4 of her break points; Gauff has won 0/5.
Muchova breaks: Muchova* 4-1 Gauff (*denotes next server)
The 29-year-old Muchova has managed to reach the semi-finals at the three other slams, and the French Open final in 2023, despite a series of injuries over the years, so she certainly isn’t overawed by this occasion. She shows wonderful disguise with a drop shot – feigning to unwind with the forehand before dispatching the drop instead – and she’s got two points at 15-40 for a double break! Gauff survives the first but not the second when she makes an absolute hash of the smash! Masterful from Muchova, as she was against Naomi Osaka in the quarter-finals.
First set: Muchova 3-1 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
But no sooner does Muchova break, than she’s in danger of being broken herself, when a messy forehand offers Gauff two break points at 15-40. The crafty, creative Czech displays her all-court game to save the first with a winning volley, and Gauff’s forehand return on the second is so mis-hit that it travels nearly as far as a 50-yard Dan Burn header. Deuce. Advantage Muchova. Game Muchova, when Gauff rips a forehand down the line but just misses.
Muchova breaks: Muchova* 2-1 Gauff (*denotes next server)
Right on cue, Muchova does just that, to advance to 15-30 on Gauff’s serve. And then a double fault follows, as Gauff hands over two break points. The two shots that can break down in Gauff’s game are the forehand and serve, but then Gauff shows her money shot, the backhand, to save the first break point, as Muchova makes the mistake of going backhand to backhand with the American. But another forehand error follows from Gauff and Muchova already has the break!
First set: Muchova 1-1 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
There’s so much to like about Muchova’s game, especially on grass, which rewards her canny combination of power, spins and speeds. The Czech again draws Gauff forward with the drop shot … and this time Gauff nets. That gets Muchova to game point and she also holds to 15, as Gauff errs on her forehand side, a shot that Muchova will surely target today.
First set: Muchova* 0-1 Gauff (*denotes next server)
Ladies and gentlemen, Gauff will serve first. Ready? Play. Gauff, wearing a pleated dress and sweatband, settles early in her first Wimbledon semi-final (this is a first for Muchova too, and the two other semi-finalists Marta Kostyuk and Linda Noskova), already showing off her tremendous athleticism as she rushes forward to the drop shot and batters a backhand down the line for 40-15. Gauff holds from there. An assured start.
Gauff does hold a 6-1 lead in their head-to-head, by the way, but I’m not sure we can read too much into that, as none of those matches were on grass. Gauff, arguably the best competitor in the women’s game, has made an art out of “winning ugly” – the phrase made famous by her former coach Brad Gilbert – and has consistently found a way to come through three-setters during this tournament even when she’s not been at her best. She may well need all that fight to combat Muchova’s mix of power and touch – which is so dangerous on grass – especially if Gauff’s serve and forehand wobble, as they sometimes do. Gauff’s backhand, though, is brilliant. Will temperament + backhand or power + hands prevail? It’s going to be so fun finding out.
And here they come to a big cheer from the crowd, not that it’s quite as warm as the red-hot weather, with the current temp around 33C, and not that Gauff can properly hear it either, because she’s got her headphones – and game face – on.
Gauff and Muchova will make their entrance on Centre Court shortly, and suddenly I’m feeling a bit nostalgic, thinking about Gauff’s debut run to the Wimbledon fourth round in 2019 as a 15-year-old, and also Muchova’s former coach, the late, great Jana Novotna, who so famously won the title here in 1998 after her tears five years earlier.
Already today: a big upset in the women’s doubles, with the top seeds and 2024 champions, Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, going out in the quarter-finals. The No 1 seeds in the men’s doubles, Britain’s Henry Patten and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara, play in the semi-finals later, while Britain’s Alfie Hewett is already through to the last four of the wheelchair singles.
Today’s women’s semi-finals aren’t yet under way, but we’ve already got the order of play for tomorrow’s men’s semis. Fery will be on first against Alexander Zverev, with Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic to follow. I’m surprised it’s not the other way around – not only because Fery v Zverev would be seem to be the better match for UK primetime TV, but also because they played their quarter-finals a day later than Sinner and Djokovic.
When are we going to wake up?!
Centre Court order of play (from 1.30pm BST)
Karolina Muchova (Czech Republic, 10) v Coco Gauff (US, 7)
Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine, 12) v Linda Noskova (Czech Republic, 9)
Followed by mixed doubles final
Marc Polmans & Storm Hunter (Australia) v Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador) & Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) (2)
In the meantime: if you’ve got any questions for our tennis correspondent Tumaini Carayol – from Fery’s ridiculous run to predictions for the final weekend and whether Britain (Fery aside) is underachieving in the game – he’s online right now:
Preamble
Hello! And welcome to women’s semi-finals day, where it’s a case of no Sabalenka, no Rybakina, no Swiatek, no Andreeva, absolutely no problem, because we’ve got two absorbing match-ups: Coco Gauff v Karolina Muchova and Marta Kostyuk v Linda Noskova.
Gauff’s Wimbledon history is a story well told – bursting on to the scene as a 15-year-old in 2019 and taking out Venus Williams en route to the last 16, but never going further until this year, despite titles at the 2023 US Open and 2025 French Open – and while Muchova, Kostyuk and Noskova have never previously generated the headlines Gauff has on these courts or fully found their feet on them before this year, their presence in the last four is no real surprise, given they have momentum to burn in this Wimbledon heatwave and games made for the grass.
Muchova, the Bad Homburg champion just before Wimbledon, and Noskova, the Berlin winner, both boast 10 wins out of 11 on the surface this summer, while Kostyuk, who reached the French Open semi-finals last month, has carried over her career-best form from the clay on to grass, winning 21 of her past 22 matches.
Predicting how today’s matches will go is a perilous business. Yes, Gauff has the most experience of going deep in slams and is Serena-like in her ability to compete and find a way to win even when she’s not playing well – four three-set wins in a row is evidence of that – but Muchova’s mix of power and touch is such a lethal combination on grass. Kostyuk v Noskova is pure power v power and while Kostyuk should win if she plays to her highest level, she froze in the Roland Garros last four, and Noskova will likely capitalise if she does so again.
What is certain is whichever way this all works out – with an American superstar in the final, or one Czech or even two a win away from joining the long line of Czech Wimbledon champions, or the emotional landmark of a first Ukrainian reaching the final after yet more Russian attacks in Kostyuk’s home city of Kyiv this week – we have two semi-finals to savour, even without Sabalenka and the rest.
Play gets under way at: 1.30pm BST. Don’t be late!
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