Muchova saves match point to beat Gauff and reach Wimbledon final

Karolina Muchova saved a match point and turned a tense deciding-set tiebreak into a 7-6(12-10) victory over Coco Gauff, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(12-10), on Centre Court to reach her first Wimbledon final. The No. 10 seed from the Czech Republic finished the two-hour, 35-minute semifinal in the furnace of a hot London afternoon.

She had led by a set after taking the opener 6-2, then watched Gauff, the No. 7 seed, level the match by racing through the second set 6-1. The third set became a test of conviction, and Muchova answered it with her best points under the greatest strain, saving match point before edging the tiebreak 12-10 and denying Gauff a place in the final.

The victory lifted Muchova into her second career Grand Slam final. At 29, she was the fourth Czech woman in the last six years to reach the Wimbledon women’s final.

The 22-year-old American arrived as a former US Open and Roland-Garros champion. She was competing in her seventh Wimbledon challenge, having first appeared in 2019 as a 15-year-old qualifier, and her run to the semifinals left her without a trip beyond the fourth round at SW19. She had already survived one earlier deciding-set tiebreak in this tournament against Solana Sierra before Muchova forced another deciding-set finish.

The semifinal came inside The Championships, which run from 29 June to 12 July. Muchova and Gauff had both arrived without a Wimbledon title, and the other semifinal, between Marta Kostyuk and Linda Noskova later on Thursday, would determine who would face Muchova on Saturday.