London’s Noskova reaches maiden Wimbledon semi-final | JQJO

LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) - Linda Noskova reached her first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon on Wednesday, becoming the second Czech woman into the last four this year with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Belgium’s Elise Mertens on Court One. The 21-year-old ninth seed, who has been climbing steadily up the rankings this season, dictated the contest in baking lunchtime heat with aggressive returns, precise groundstrokes and well-timed drop shots that repeatedly pushed the 30-year-old Belgian onto the defensive. Noskova finally cracked Mertens’s resistance in the eighth game of the opening set, then again in the 11th game of the second, before sealing the match with a strong serve that Mertens steered wide.

Mertens, seeded 25th in singles and a six-time Grand Slam doubles champion, had to work hard to stay in touch throughout the match, repeatedly facing pressure on her delivery and saving nine break points before conceding the crucial breaks. Noskova’s victory puts her into Thursday’s semi-finals alongside compatriot Karolina Muchova, giving the Czech Republic two players in the last four at the All England Club. She will face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, who defeated Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the quarter-finals, with a place in Saturday’s Wimbledon women’s singles final at stake.