Noskova rounds out an all-seeded final eight whose lower half has never produced a major champion
Linda Noskova defeated Madison Keys 6-4, 7-6 (2) on Monday evening and will play Belgian Elise Mertens, the No 25 seed, in the next round
Linda Noskova, Wimbledon 2026 | © Juergen Hasenkopf/Psnews
Czech ninth seed Linda Noskova reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal on Monday evening, beating American Madison Keys 6-4, 7-6 (2). At 21, she becomes the youngest Czech woman to reach the last eight at the All England Club since Petra Kvitova, who went on to win the title in 2011.
It is Noskova’s second Grand Slam quarterfinal and her first since 2024 (Australian Open), reward for the power game that has made the world No. 12 a danger to anyone left in the draw. She saw off Keys – a former Australian Open champion (2025) who had knocked out sixth seed Amanda Anisimova in the previous round – closing the match with a one-sided second-set tiebreak.
Her meeting with Elise Mertens in quater-finals (No.25) sits in a wide-open lower half. For the first time since 2007, all eight women’s quarterfinalists are seeded – but none of the four in Noskova’s section has ever won a major.
Neither she, Mertens, No. 12 seed Marta Kostyuk nor No. 13 seed Jasmine Paolini has lifted a Grand Slam trophy, leaving the door open for a maiden major champion to emerge from that side of the draw. Paolini is the only one to have played a final, at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon in 2024.
Noskova’s route to the quarterfinals was the sterner test of the two women’s fortnights. Noskova came through German Ella Seidel 6-4, 6-3, Colombian Camila Osorio 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 and, in a tight three-setter, Romanian 17th seed Sorana Cirstea 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9).
Keys, ranked No. 22, had beaten Anisimova 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, Englishwoman Katie Swan and American Kayla Day.
