Running tennis thread 2026

[Shropshire Slasher]

BTW, what was the deal with the band-aid on Serena's neck? Did she get bit by a vampire? Did Alexis give her a hickey?

Maybe Venus snuck her a jugular IV of that Viking Whatever stuff that she is pitching.

 

[qtlaw]

I’m disappointed in all Czech final but I’m rooting for Muchova because she looks Fed-like in her strokes and how she moves. A great retro look.

 

[da man]

The latest Czech Wimbledon champion is Linda Noskova, who overpowered (for the most part) Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. Noskova was dominant on her serve and blasted away on her groundstrokes, pushing Muchova back and forcing errors. She blew through the first set and led 5-2 in the second... then the pressure got to her. Noskova had three match points on Muchova's serve but lost them all, two as a result of unforced errors. Then she got timid on her serve, backing off on the first and especially the second serve, and was suddenly shaky across the board. That led to Muchova's run of five consecutive games to win the set, converting two of her seven break points and saving five match points along the way.

Noskova was clearly overwhelmed, and her body language was awful. During the changeovers, she put her fingers in her ears to try to block out the crowd's cheers and sat with her a towel covering her bowed head. “My hand kind of froze at the end of the second set," she told ESPN afterward. "I have never been in such a situation. The pressure was definitely on.”

But between the second and third set, according to ESPN's Kris Budden, Noskova ducked off the court, saw the Venus Rosewater Dish -- the championship trophy -- stopped and stared at it. Her thought, she said later, was, “I’m going to get this trophy."

Muchova continued to push as Noskova served to open the third, creating three break point opportunities, but Noskova steadied the ship and held -- and that, it turned out, was that. She broke in the next game and served out the match.

Great win for the 21-year-old, who now rises to a career-high No. 7 in the rankings. I will say I'm pretty bummed for Muchova for the reasons mentioned a few posts ago -- she's a good player who's been around, paid her dues and battled through a long list of injuries. She was very emotional after the match, breaking down in tears several times during her on court interview. I would love to see her win a major at some point.

 

[UPChip]

This could be a little too much righteous indignation on my part, but Drug Cheat vs. Woman-Beater is not my favorite Wimbledon final.

 

[SixToe]

This could be a little too much righteous indignation on my part, but Drug Cheat vs. Woman-Beater is not my favorite Wimbledon final.

Neither is optimal but I'll take the drug cheat over any POS abuser.

 

[BTExpress]

Come on. It's not like either of them destroyed a locker.

 

[da man]

Sinner d hisid thing and put away Zverev 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 for his fifth major title and second straight at Wimbledon.

The match stats are amazing, especially on serve. Zverev got 76% of his first serves in and won 72% of those points, averaging 132 mph and hitting his high of 139 on multiple occasions with most of those right on the chalk in the corners or down the T. He won 59% of second serve points.

But he couldn't make a dent in Sinner's serve, managing just one break point in the match. Sinner's numbers: 80% of first-serve points won and 65% won on the second serve, along with 58 winners against 25 unforced errors. In the first set, Zverev won an astounding 82% of his second-serve points -- but Sinner won 86%.

After two-plus sets of matching each other shot for shot, Zverev finally blinked at 3-3 in the third. After pushing Sinner to a break point in the previous game, Zverev squandered three game points with two unforced errors and a double fault, then gave Sinner the break with back-to-back unforced errors. As the last shot of that game sailed long, Zverev slammed his racket into the grass and watched it skitter away. He played some very good tennis after that, but his body language said he was done.

Now it's on to the hard courts and soon to North America and hoping Alcraraz will be back in time for the U.S. Open.

 

[Cosmo]

Watched the last set and a half yesterday. I knew Zverev was done when he kept looking back at his team in the stands and talking either to himself or his coach trying to figure out a way back into the match. Some really good rallies at the end of the match, too.

 

[Webster]

I’ll also say that the headband v hat made it easier for the casual to follow

 

[da man]

I’ll also say that the headband v hat made it easier for the casual to follow

Yes, one of my big problems with Wimbledon is that that all-white dress code can make it hard to tell who's who on the wide shots.

 

[da man]

One more Wimbledon note:

16-year-old American Jordan Lee won the boys' singles title. Lee, who came through qualifying to earn his spot in the draw, scored a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Australia's Cruz Hewitt -- son of former world No. 1 and 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt -- in yesterday's final. He came back from a set down and was down a break in the final set before winning five of the last six games. In the first round, he crushed No. 5 seed Yannick Theodor Alexandrescou of France 6-0, 6-2.

Lee, the youngest player in this year's draw, is just the second qualifier to win the boys' championship at a major. Fellow American Noah Rubin also won Wimbledon in 2014.

Lee did not come in as an unknown. His mother, Tina Lee, is associate head pro of the USTA's national High Performance Academy in the Orlando area. He made the finals of Wimbledon's U-14 championships in 2024, has won several international tournaments and was part of winning U.S. teams at the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals and the Junior Davis Cup. He's also comng off a wrist injury that kept him out for seven months last year.