Karolina Muchova has reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time, marking a significant personal breakthrough at the All England Club.
The 29-year-old Czech is one of four women’s semi-finalists at SW19 this fortnight. This means a first-time Wimbledon women’s champion is guaranteed on Saturday.
Muchova’s Path to the Last Four
Muchova is a first-time semi-finalist at the All England Club, having not won a single match here since 2021. Over the past six seasons, Muchova had reached the semi-finals at the other three majors. However, she had suffered four successive first-round exits at Wimbledon.
Muchova, known for her creativity and variety, has the game to excel on a surface that rewards her craft. The key issue for her has consistently been staying fit.
A wrist injury sidelined her for 10 months last season. She was once told by a doctor to stop playing tennis because of the pressure on her body. Reflecting on her journey, Muchova stated, “I’m appreciating more that I’m here, I can play, I don’t have these big issues that I had in the past.”
Grass Court Breakthrough for All Semi-Finalists
Muchova is set to face fellow Czech Linda Noskova in Thursday’s last-four matches. The other semi-final pits American two-time major champion Coco Gauff against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk. All four semi-finalists have previously encountered problems with grass courts, but everything has clicked into place for them this fortnight.
Coco Gauff, 22, by her own admission, has never had the “best relationship” with grass courts. She has won Grand Slam titles on the US Open hard courts in 2023 and the French Open clay in 2025, but had not found the same level of confidence on grass. Her career breakthrough famously came at Wimbledon in 2019 when, as a 15-year-old, she came through qualifying and beat one of her idols Venus Williams on her way to the fourth round.
Until this year, the American had not won a match on a grass court for two years. Gauff is an exceptional athlete who is able to move quickly around the court, though her footwork is not necessarily fluid when setting up shots from the baseline. Her serve has often been fragile, leading to numerous double faults, and her forehand has also been liable to falter in crucial moments.
Last year, Gauff hired biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan, who helped Aryna Sabalenka overcome her serving issues before winning major titles, on the eve of the US Open to fix these issues. Gauff stated, “I have really honed in on my game and realised I don’t have to play a spectacular point every time to win.” She added, “I think it [the breakthrough] is just trusting myself. My groundstrokes are good enough to be with anyone on this surface.”
Marta Kostyuk, another Wimbledon semi-finalist, called her relationship with the surface “complicated.” Like Muchova and Noskova, Kostyuk has also found her feet on grass this fortnight.
A Guaranteed New Champion
Coco Gauff is the only Wimbledon women’s semi-finalist to have won a Grand Slam singles title. American former world number one Tracy Austin commented, “Coco is the only one who has won a major – but I’m not committing to saying she’s the favourite.”
Austin added, “It will interesting to see how all four manage this with so much on the line.” With all four players finding their feet on grass, a first-time Wimbledon women’s champion is guaranteed on Saturday.