“I just believed in my game tonight” – Noskova credits self-belief in seismic Swiatek win
The Czech player registered her first win over a world No 1 to earn her debut appearance in the second week of a Grand Slam
Linda Noskova © Zuma / Panoramic
One year ago, an 18-year-old and relatively unknown Linda Noskova lost in the first round of qualifying for the Australian Open. She was ranked 102 at the time and had never made it past the second round of a Grand Slam.
Twelve months later, and now firmly established within the top 50, that same Czech player has just reached the fourth round of the Australian Open having knocked out the world No 1 and overwhelming favourite for the match, Iga Swiatek.
It is remarkable enough that someone ranked 50th in the world takes out the top seed at a major. But add to that the minimal Grand Slam experience that 19-year-old Noskova has under her belt, and the fact that Swiatek came into the encounter with an 18-match winning streak to her name, and the significance of the teenage Czech’s achievement starts to become clear.
“I think it was an unbelievable match for me,” Noskova said in her post-match press conference.
“Playing on such a court for a first time, playing with Iga for a second time. I really wanted to win this, so I’m just glad that I did it.”
self-belief key to biggest win of noskova’s career
Despite the considerable odds against her, Noskova revealed that she did not come into the match with any other aim other than to win.
It was a steadfast belief in her own game, the work she has put into it over the past 18 months and an attitude to treat this third-round clash against the world No 1 like any other encounter that were the key ingredients to such a momentous victory.
“I know my game,” Noskova went on.
“I know that I have improved a lot in the last year and a half, year. I mean, I just believed in my game tonight.
“I just really wanted this win because I didn’t really come to that court with the thought of, like, I have nothing to lose. I took it very seriously. It was like a match as any other.”
swiatek win the result of 18 months of hard graft
That self-belief has been grounded in a work ethic stretching back a year-and-a-half, with Noskova’s focus on improving her first serve the foundation for her new-found success.
“I wanted to work on my serve a lot. Obviously my game is to be aggressive almost all the time, especially at the right times. I just work on that daily just to improve the spots where I hit it.
“Obviously when I have such a match like tonight and I’m playing good and I’m feeling good, a lot of points can go my way without even me realizing it, fully knowing if I had planned it or not.
“I feel like practicing and improving on yourself daily is, like, the main goal for me.”
The next assignment for this powerful 19-year-old is a fourth-round debut against Elina Svitolina, a player who is in fine form herself.
Ranking and experience will once again place Noskova as a firm underdog in that match. However, if the manner in which the Czech served out the biggest win of her career is anything to go by, the pressure shouldn’t count too strongly against her.
“It was 30-30 [in the final game],” Noskova continued.
“I was like, ‘Okay, let’s focus on my serve. That’s the main part again’. I was a little shaky, of course.
“But I think I handled it well.”
Few would disagree with that.
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