There were 35 tiebreaks in the women’s singles draw at Wimbledon this year.
None was more exciting than the one played by Karolina Muchová and Coco Gauff in their semifinal. And, being the third set, it was a match tiebreak to decide which player would feature in the final.
The 18 minutes it lasted was not all perfect tennis, but any errors only added to the suspense. Luck of both varieties also contributed to the dramatic journey that ended with a score of 12-10.
Of the seven matches they’d contested until now, Gauff had won the first six – including two this year – while Muchová claimed the most recent on the clay of Stuttgart in April. Never in all these matches had a tiebreak been required.
At Wimbledon, Muchová had won the first set 6-1 – the players earned nine break points between them, and lost the middle set 1-6 – Gauff had six break points.
The deciding set proceeded to 6-6 on serve, with both players fending off two break points.
The tiebreak began with Gauff’s wild forehand return to Muchová’s second serve. The mishit sailed high in the air and landed well out of court.
Gauff then needed a second serve herself and was immediately on the defensive. She was pinned at the back of the court by Muchová’s return landing on the baseline and the depth of her groundstrokes in the ensuing rally. Eventually, Gauff seized the opportunity for a dainty pass down the line while Muchová was at the net, and won the point for 1-1.
The next point she lost with a rare backhand volley miss, after playing so well at the net throughout the match.
Muchová conjured some magic as she served out wide, then from behind the service line, squatted and volleyed from her toes in the opposite direction. As Gauff lost the point, she could only applaud.
With an unreturnable serve, Muchová had rushed out to 4-1.
As her coach Sven Groeneveld gestured at her to stay loose, his player grimaced and clutched her right rib, as she had done several times during the match. With her appalling history of serious injuries, spectators could only hope Muchová would be able to play out the match.
Her determined opponent lifted. When Muchová tried to end a lengthy groundstroke rally by changing pace with a drop shot, Gauff raced across the grass to retrieve the ball and reply in kind. She watched from the side of the court as Muchová’s backhand landed just over the baseline.
The American then hit a body serve that triggered a jammed return into the net. So she drew closer at 3-4.
What happened next was worthy of the glory days of Boris Becker, hurling himself onto the grass to reach a shot. Fittingly, he was in attendance to applaud as Muchová, fully stretched in the air, angled her racquet head for a slice and hit a winning volley. And as she came to rest flat on the ground, her eyes never left the trajectory of the ball.
Through an ace down the middle, she increased her lead to 6-3.
Again Gauff was defiant. By winning the next three points – a cross court forehand past Muchová at the net; a forehand delicately dinked down the line after running the Czech all over the court; and a let cord nudging Muchová’s forehand out – she drew level at 6-6.
A Gauff backhand wide and a Muchová forehand wide meant scores were still tied.
It was bad timing for Gauff to throw in her second double fault for the match. Muchová, however, could not take advantage of this free point and hit a loose forehand far beyond the baseline. It was 8-8.
With possibly only two points to go till the end of the 10 point tiebreak, Chair Umpire Alison Hughes added to the already palpable tension. Her amplified voice suddenly floated over the court while Muchová was bouncing the ball preparing to serve, “Time violation, warning, Miss Muchová”. The player barely reacted though a loud murmur went around Centre Court. She served a fault, caught the ball during her next service motion, got her second serve in, but hit her subsequent backhand well long.
So it was matchpoint to Gauff. She hit a great serve down the middle. But her poorly executed drop shot went into the bottom of the net. Muchová was still well behind the baseline recovering from lungeing to return the serve, and there was no need for the drop shot to be cut so fine. For a moment, Gauff looked unsettled as she asked the ballboy to supply the ball for her next serve, when it was actually time for a change of ends.
Yet again, the score was level – 9-9.
Gauff hit a brilliant second serve out so wide it seemed miraculous that Muchová got her racquet on it, let alone managed to return the ball into the centre of the court. To get her own matchpoint, Muchová ended this rally with a perfect topspin lob. At the net, Gauff could only watch the ball soar diagonally over her head to the corner of the court before bouncing away.
The crowd laughed with disbelief after this matchpoint when Muchová slipped to her knees near the net while attempting to cut off a cross court pass. Whether on not she could have reached the ball is hard to know. Still, when she got to her feet, she smiled wryly at Groeneveld.
With the score sitting at 10-10, Muchová made her move.
She got the better of a nine stroke rally, pounding her groundstrokes to get into position to bash a forehand winner across the court. Her plan was aided by Gauff’s momentary stumble in the dust behind the baseline.
Having gained this second match point, Muchová grimaced again as if in pain but walked back to return serve.
She seized control of the point, again with tremendous groundstrokes. The match finished with Gauff running back and forth across the baseline defending, until she could only hit her final forehand into the net.
After the players embraced, Muchová looked mightily relieved as she walked back onto the court to acknowledge the crowd.
Muchová had won all six tiebreaks she’s played this year.
Her reward for winning this one was a second chance for a grand slam title. Three years ago she lost the final of Roland Garros to Iga Świątek, 2–6, 7–5, 4–6.
Now, since she played the first of the Wimbledon semifinals, Muchová knew only that she would face either Marta Kostyuk or Linda Nosková for the right to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish.
In Muchová’s on-court interview with Lee McKenzie, she was asked about the “fine margins” in the match and if she had time to think. “Honestly, it was such a big fight. It was rollercoaster… you’re up and down. In ten seconds you have match point then you’re match point down. No time to think, but very nerve racking.
“I don’t even know what I’m saying. I’m really kind of shaking and trying to sink it in. But the atmosphere here, indescribable…”
In response to a question about why she was sometimes holding her side during the match she said, “Yeah, I’m OK. I’m OK. I was just trying to catch my breath. But I’m good. I’m good. Yeah, I’m good,” before bursting into laughter.
McKenzie mentioned that the semi was Muchová’s first ever match on Centre Court, before the player elaborated. “There’s so many of us tennis players and I don’t think many of us get to play on this court and it’s such a history of our sport…
“We came to warm up with Linda [Nosková, who also had never been on Centre Court] before the semis and took a photo. It was just a nice moment to experience all of this.”
She added, “And this court is beautiful”, before letting out an appreciative sigh.
Title photo by Patrick Hamilton / Sipa USA
Update – Later that day
Linda Nosková defeated Marta Kostyuk, 6-4, 6-4 in the second semifinal.
So Saturday would present Wimbledon’s first all-Czech final. It would also the first Wimbledon final for both players.