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6 hours ago
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Key events
Gauff does hold a 6-1 lead in their head-to-head, by the way, but I’m not sure we can read too much into that, as none of those matches were on grass. Gauff, arguably the best competitor in the women’s game, has made an art out of “winning ugly” – the phrase made famous by her former coach Brad Gilbert – and has consistently found a way to come through three-setters during this tournament even when she’s not been at her best. She may well need all that fight to combat Muchova’s mix of power and touch – which is so dangerous on grass – especially if Gauff’s serve and forehand wobble, as they sometimes do. Gauff’s backhand, though, is brilliant. Will temperament + backhand or power + hands prevail? It’s going to be so fun finding out.
And here they come to a big cheer from the crowd, not that it’s quite as warm as the red-hot weather, with the current temp around 33C, and not that Gauff can properly hear it either, because she’s got her headphones – and game face – on.
Gauff and Muchova will make their entrance on Centre Court shortly, and suddenly I’m feeling a bit nostalgic, thinking about Gauff’s debut run to the Wimbledon fourth round in 2019 as a 15-year-old, and also Muchova’s former coach, the late, great Jana Novotna, who so famously won the title here in 1998 after her tears five years earlier.
Already today: a big upset in the women’s doubles, with the top seeds and 2024 champions, Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, going out in the quarter-finals. The No 1 seeds in the men’s doubles, Britain’s Henry Patten and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara, play in the semi-finals later, while Britain’s Alfie Hewett is already through to the last four of the wheelchair singles.
Today’s women’s semi-finals aren’t yet under way, but we’ve already got the order of play for tomorrow’s men’s semis. Fery will be on first against Alexander Zverev, with Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic to follow. I’m surprised it’s not the other way around – not only because Fery v Zverev would be seem to be the better match for UK primetime TV, but also because they played their quarter-finals a day later than Sinner and Djokovic.
When are we going to wake up?!
Centre Court order of play (from 1.30pm BST)
Karolina Muchova (Czech Republic, 10) v Coco Gauff (US, 7)
Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine, 12) v Linda Noskova (Czech Republic, 9)
Followed by mixed doubles final
Marc Polmans & Storm Hunter (Australia) v Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador) & Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) (2)
In the meantime: if you’ve got any questions for our tennis correspondent Tumaini Carayol – from Fery’s ridiculous run to predictions for the final weekend and whether Britain (Fery aside) is underachieving in the game – he’s online right now:
Preamble
Hello! And welcome to women’s semi-finals day, where it’s a case of no Sabalenka, no Rybakina, no Swiatek, no Andreeva, absolutely no problem, because we’ve got two absorbing match-ups: Coco Gauff v Karolina Muchova and Marta Kostyuk v Linda Noskova.
Gauff’s Wimbledon history is a story well told – bursting on to the scene as a 15-year-old in 2019 and taking out Venus Williams en route to the last 16, but never going further until this year, despite titles at the 2023 US Open and 2025 French Open – and while Muchova, Kostyuk and Noskova have never previously generated the headlines Gauff has on these courts or fully found their feet on them before this year, their presence in the last four is no real surprise, given they have momentum to burn in this Wimbledon heatwave and games made for the grass.
Muchova, the Bad Homburg champion just before Wimbledon, and Noskova, the Berlin winner, both boast 10 wins out of 11 on the surface this summer, while Kostyuk, who reached the French Open semi-finals last month, has carried over her career-best form from the clay on to grass, winning 21 of her past 22 matches.
Predicting how today’s matches will go is a perilous business. Yes, Gauff has the most experience of going deep in slams and is Serena-like in her ability to compete and find a way to win even when she’s not playing well – four three-set wins in a row is evidence of that – but Muchova’s mix of power and touch is such a lethal combination on grass. Kostyuk v Noskova is pure power v power and while Kostyuk should win if she plays to her highest level, she froze in the Roland Garros last four, and Noskova will likely capitalise if she does so again.
What is certain is whichever way this all works out – with an American superstar in the final, or one Czech or even two a win away from joining the long line of Czech Wimbledon champions, or the emotional landmark of a first Ukrainian reaching the final after yet more Russian attacks in Kostyuk’s home city of Kyiv this week – we have two semi-finals to savour, even without Sabalenka and the rest.
Play gets under way at: 1.30pm BST. Don’t be late!
