Will the Czech player cap off her strong grass-court season?
Czech rising star Linda Nosková, who knocked German player Ella Seidel out of the competition in the first round, has already won the grass-court tournament in Berlin in preparation for the Wimbledon Championships. There, she defeated world No. 4 Jessica Pegula in the final. She is now the youngest Wimbledon semifinalist since Jelena Ostapenko (2018), and we think it’s entirely possible that in the match between Marta Kostyuk and Linda Nosková, the player from eastern Czech Republic will pull off a major upset and storm into the final on Church Road.
However, the Ukrainian is also having an outstanding season. Marta Kostyuk just reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career at the French Open and has lost only five of her 32 singles matches played in 2026. In her 2-0 quarterfinal victory over Jasmine Paolini—who reached the Wimbledon final back in 2024—she needed just 69 minutes and, winning 90 percent of her first-serve points, didn’t face a single break point.
In our view, it’s therefore very interesting to predict that the Marta Kostyuk vs. Linda Nosková semifinal will be decided in two sets. The player who takes the first set should have a very good chance of winning the match. After all, both players are still very young and inexperienced and have not yet been able to demonstrate any comeback abilities on such a big stage.
Although the only previous meeting went to Marta Kostyuk—who is listed as the favorite by the top bookmakers—we still see value in betting on the underdog. After all, the 21-year-old Czech’s grass-court season was nothing short of outstanding, with ten wins in eleven singles matches—though her first-round loss in Bad Homburg, which came just one day after her tournament victory in Berlin, shouldn’t be overemphasized.
Marta Kostyuk – Linda Nosková Head-to-Head Record
Head-to-Head: 1:0
The first and only meeting between the two players took place in April of this year in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open on clay. Although the first set was decided in a tiebreak, the young Czech player’s resistance was subsequently broken, allowing Marta Kostyuk to win in straight sets, 2–0 (7–6, 6–0).
Marta Kostyuk – Linda Nosková Prediction
Both players delivered impressive performances across the board in their quarterfinal matches on Wednesday and were even able to keep the matches relatively short, so the transition to the semifinals—during which players from the lower half of the draw forgo a day off—should go relatively smoothly. Neither player lacks the necessary physical stamina, however. What they do lack, though, is experience. For both, the Wimbledon semifinal is a first.
If the start of the match doesn’t go smoothly, it will likely be difficult for these inexperienced players to fight their way back after falling behind a set. We therefore recommend betting that this semifinal will be decided in two sets.
