Karolina Muchova beats Coco Gauff, reaches her maiden Wimbledon final
What's the story
Czech tennis star Karolina Muchova reached the 2026 Wimbledon final after beating seventh seed Coco Gauff. Muchova won the women's singles semi-final, a three-set thriller, on Centre Court. After two contrasting sets, the Czech star beat Gauff 12-10 in the super tie-break. Notably, Muchova reached her maiden Wimbledon final and a second at Grand Slams. Gauff had earlier qualified for her first Wimbledon semi-final.
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Match summary and key numbers
After an hour and 28 minutes, Muchova won the semi-final 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10). In the super tie-break, Gauff made a comeback after trailing 3-6. Muchova even saved a match point at 9-8 before rallying past Gauff. Both players recorded three aces and 30-plus winners throughout the match. Meanwhile, Gauff had a win percentage of 70 on her first serve.
Journey
Path to final
As mentioned, Muchova reached her maiden Wimbledon semi-final. She endured a first-round exit on her previous four attempts (2022-2025). The Czech star is now 14-6 at the grass-court Major and 59-27 at Grand Slams. Her only other appearance in a Grand Slam final came at the 2023 French Open, where she lost to Iga Swiatek in three sets.
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Successive three-setters for Gauff
Earlier, Gauff reached her maiden Wimbledon semi-final. She concluded her 2026 Wimbledon campaign with her fifth successive three-set match. Gauff is now 22-7 at the grass-court Slam and 91-26 at Grand Slams.
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Muchova attains this feat
At 29, Muchova has become the oldest woman to reach her maiden singles final at Wimbledon since Nathalie Tauziat (30y 249d in 1998), as per Opta. Overall, the former is the fourth-oldest Wimbledon finalist (women's singles) in the Open Era.
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Head-to-head record
This was only Muchova's second win over Gauff in eight head-to-head WTA meetings. The former's only other win in this battle came earlier this year in Stuttgart, also a three-setter.