I’ve always wanted to watch a women’s Wimbledon final live and 2026 was the year. It was my third trip to Wimbledon this year and yes, I am a greedy siht. It helps having a family who love Wimbledon too! All the credit to my Mum who, after many months of relentless refreshes, managed to get tickets on the Wimbledon returns and bloody good ones at that. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we were so lucky with the final. Read on for highlights from the day.

Day 13 Matches 🎾

Heliovaara & Patten d. Arevalo & Pavic, 7-6(4) 7-6(3) (Final, Centre Court)

I still haven’t got used to the new timings for the finals which were first introduced in 2025 so we started with the men’s doubles final which opens up proceedings at 1pm. I would say that Centre Court was about 75% full and it probably helped having a Brit, Henry Patten, in the final.

It was an OK final, which was completely dominated on serve with no break points. I thought Heliovaara and Patten were the better team and they had a few openings on return towards the end of the second set. Patten was the star of the show and his touch at the net was incredible. Heliovaara and Patten dominated both tiebreaks and we were relieved it was done in straight sets so we got a break before the main show. I liked that Henry Patten used his speech to call out the ATP for proposed changes to the doubles in 2028.

Linda Noskova d. Karolina Muchova, 6-2 5-7 6-3 (Final, Centre Court)

Gosh where to start with this one. I was so chuffed to get this historic all-Czech final as I like both players and Muchova is my number one favourite player. It was a legit final with Noskova and Muchova winning two of the three biggest tournaments on grass in the lead-up to Wimbledon in Berlin and Bad Homburg respectively.

I was relieved when both players held their opening service games (still devastated by AA last year 😭). It didn’t take long though for Noskova to take control of the final and in just over an hour, she led 6-2 5-2. Noskova was sharp and aggressive, and was devastating on the first two shots, either winning points outright on her serve or setting up a winner on the next ball. Noskova’s return, hit deep and down the centre of the court, caused Muchova all kinds of problems. Muchova kept missing on her first shot after the serve.

Muchova wasn’t bad but was clearly tight and a little frozen. There was little variety from Muchova who was reactive to what Noskova was doing and didn’t have the freedom to play her own game. I felt like Noskova was out-Muchovaing Muchova for the first set and a half as she showed the more variety and hit a gorgeous lob to win the first set.

It was looking like a quick final and I was gutted for Muchova as I sat glumly in my seat. My mum kept saying “never mind” 😂. I hadn’t given up all hope as I remembered that Muchova produced a comeback down a set and a break (may-be two breaks?) in her only previous Slam final against Iga Swiatek at the 2023 French Open.

The final got really interesting from 6-2 5-2 as the pair played a trio of really tense, tight and drawn out deuce games. This is the stage of the match where I stopped breathing. Muchova saved three Championship points serving at *2-5 to come through a five deuce game. This was so nearly done and dusted in 70 minutes as Muchova went close to the lines with second serves on two of the Championship Points and a net cord went her way on the third. Muchova was not going to let this go without a fight…

Noskova missed another Championship point when she served for the whole caboodle at *5-3, this time on a double fault that you could see coming a mile off. Noskova began to rush. There was still some great stuff from Noskova who saved back-to-back break points with aces out wide. Muchova eventually broke after seven tortuous deuces and copious amounts of sweating from my side. Poor Noskova put her hands over her ears when the crowd erupted. Muchova then saved a fifth Championship Point when serving to stay in the tournament for the second time at *4-5, her best save with a big serve and flaming forehand winner.

At 5-5 in the second set, Noskova completely lost the plot with some wild errors. I went from full-on cheering for Muchova to feeling bad for Noskova because I knew this would be an absolute heartbreaker if she were to lose. Muchova won five games in a row to force a deciding set. For the first time, Muchova started to look free and dictate the points. The atmosphere was great at the end of the second set and the crowd was pro-Muchova. We love an underdog and the crowd wanted a match. Muchova delivered.

I was quietly confident that Muchova would carry the momentum into the third set and Noskova wouldn’t be able to reset. Of course, again, i’m an idiot. I felt in a trance at the start of the third set. I was convinced Muchova had one break point in Noskova’s first service game but it was actually three. The third of those break points was the turning point. Muchova said in her press conference (see below) that she’d wished she had gone down-the-line rather than cross-court with her forehand. Noskova defended with her slice and then hit a fizzing forehand cross-court winner. That was the moment. Noskova broke Muchova’s serve in the next game and then held all the way to the end for one of the most impressive resets in a Slam final that I can remember. The final service game from Noskova was so clutch.

I was surprised how I felt at the end – obviously I was very sad for Muchova, because I thought this was her moment, but I was really pleased for Noskova. I didn’t want the story to be the collapse in the second set. Bar the end of the second set, Noskova was the better player and deserved to win. Muchova did so well to battle back in the second set and make this a competitive final. It really is luck of the draw with finals. It could have been over in 68 minutes and an underwhelming final but it ended up being very memorable and lasting two hours and 28 minutes. Also, compare to last year too. We were lucky chumps.

I loved the trophy ceremony and i’ll be watching that on repeat for weeks. Both speeches broke me. I’ve never seen Muchova emotional before. I kind of love to see the human side and how much this meant for Muchova. I’m still optimistic that Muchova will get that Slam and she’s always done well at the US Open. The “ex-friend” joke from Muchova got the biggest laugh from the crowd. And then Noskova’s speech 😭. I was nervously waiting for her to mention her mum who sadly passed away from cancer a couple of years ago. Such a sad moment. Watching back on TV, the Royal Box were in pieces.

Around the grounds 🌱

Our seats were near the Royal Box so it was very exciting. I loved seeing all the former players. I internally screamed when Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep hugged each other. I think I squealed when Petra Kvitova appeared with her husband and coach, Jiri Vanek. Other former champs included Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Ann Jones and Marion Bartoli. We also saw Cliff Richard to the left of us and Mark Petchey was sat a few rows in front.

We were in Gangway 301, row J. The location was amazing, but the gradient of the seats was not so good as people’s heads were constantly blocking our view. When people in front left their seats, we were silently fist-pumping. We had a particularly annoying man in front who wouldn’t sit still.

Funny crowd moment with said annoying man discussed above. His phone went off and he proceeded to answer the phone call during play. There was a general murmuring as everyone was in disbelief before someone told him to shut up 😂.

Just as Noskova prepared to walk off court with the Venus Rosewater Dish, our seats came into sun. We were very fortunate because it was another blazing hot day. It got quite sweaty in the second and third sets of the final so I cannot imagine what it was like in the sun. Also, the floor was sticky and my shoes kept sticking to the ground. It’s been a long two weeks.

Snap of the day 📸

It was really hard to get anything decent from Centre Court with all the heads. I’ll go for a non-final shot when we were about to leave with the sprinklers going on on the outside courts in the sun.

Photos 📸

More photos from women’s finals day at Wimbledon can be found on the MTB Facebook page.

Highlights 📺