Linda Noskova’s Father Reveals Family’s Darkest Days Before Wimbledon Glory: “We Had Nothing to Eat”

Linda Noskova‘s journey from humble beginnings to becoming a Grand Slam champion is grabbing a lot of attention. Noskova, the 21-year-old from the Czech Republic, beat countrywoman Karolina Muchova in three sets to become the third woman from her country in four years to win the title at Wimbledon.

Although becoming a professional tennis player is never easy, Noskova had to endure additional hardships. Her dad, Drahos Nosek, during an interview with iSport.cz, opened up about the family’s darkest days, the time when he and his wife, Ivana Noskova, struggled to make ends meet.

We started, and we basically had nothing to eat and no place to live. My wife and I divorced from our previous marriages at that time, left all our property to the others, and started over.

Nosek is a retired railway company employee. Ivana used to work at a local clothing shop in Vsetin. It was Nosek who introduced her daughter to tennis.

When Linda was born, I was three thousand in the red every month. My wife had nothing, I worked as a dispatcher, and I had to collect scrap metal to survive at all. It only got better when my parents died, the house was sold, and I paid my debts.

Drahos Nosek added

Ivana passed away in 2024 after her battle with cancer. The World No.7, during the trophy presentation after her Wimbledon win, looked toward the sky and paid an emotional tribute to her mom:

There’s one more person I’d like to thank, which is my mum. I definitely would not be standing here without her

The WTA ace won her second title of the season at the All England Club following the Berlin Open. She defeated Jessica Pegula in the German capital, winning her career’s first grass-court title.

Linda Noskova on whether she found it hard to play her friend Karolina Muchova

Karolina Muchova spoke through tears during her runner-up speech after her defeat to Linda Noskova. She first started her speech by calling Noskova her “ex-friend,” and hearing these words, the Centre Court erupted in laughter. Noskova also couldn’t help but laugh. At the press conference later, Noskova revealed whether it was easy for her to play a good friend in a Grand Slam final.

For me, it’s never easy to play a friend. I’ve made a few friends on tour. Whenever we play each other, it’s never easy. This time I kind of wanted to keep the distance, I guess. We just waved hi at each other, and that was all before the match. I feel like that helped me a lot throughout almost the whole match.

With this win, Noskova has improved her head-to-head record over Muchova to 1-1. Prior to this match, they met in the third round of last year’s US Open.

I know Karolina’s game. She’s a tricky player to play on any surface. I had to keep being focused. I don’t think that the fact that we are friends, we still are friends – hopefully (smiling) – didn’t help me in some moments or something like that.

Linda Noskova added

Muchova is now a two-time Grand Slam finalist. Before the grass-court Major, she reached the title clash of the 2023 French Open, which she lost to six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek.

Muchova was chasing her third title of the season at Wimbledon. After her win in Doha (beat Victoria Mboko), she lost in Stuttgart (to Elena Rybakina). Then, at the Bad Homburg Open, the 29-year-old was handed a walkover by four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka. It was her first title on grass.

Also read: Two Former World No.1s Give Insights into Alexander Zverev’s Mentality After Losing the Wimbledon Final to Jannik Sinner