Linda Noskova’s success at Wimbledon hides an impressive life story. The new tournament champion, only 21 years old, has not only reached the elite of tennis through talent, but also because of the huge sacrifices made by her family over the years.
Before his daughter lifted the trophy at the All England Club, Linda’s father, Drahos Nosek, went through many hardships to support her dream. He collected scrap metal to support his family, and during difficult times he even slept in train stations, investing every resource in the development of the sport.
“All four of us slept in the station, for five hundred crowns!”
After winning the final, moved, he stayed for minutes looking at the trophy, enjoying a beer, aware that all the sacrifices made were rewarded. He said that when Linda was born, the family was going through an extremely difficult time financially. The situation changed only after they received an inheritance, which allowed them to pay off their debts and buy the family’s first car. Their lives changed little by little, in the context in which, back then, traveling to competitions seemed like endless nightmares.
“When Linda was born, we were in the red by three grand every month. The wife had nothing, I was a railroad dispatcher and had to pick up scrap metal to survive. We were going to Prague by train and the four of us slept in the station for five hundred crowns. I remember that then she played a policeman’s daughter and then our Linda. Everyone else had parents with money. We had run out of money just to allow him to play tenniss!”admitted the father of the queen of Wimbledon.
He won Wimbledon, but without his mother by his side
Behind the triumph at Wimbledon there is also a drama that deeply marked Linda Noskova’s family. Just two years before the most important success of her career, the player lost her mother, Ivana, just before the 2024 edition of the London tournament.
Victorious at Wimbledon, Linda Noskova dedicated the success to her mother, who died in 2024
Her disappearance was a huge blow to the whole family: “My wife died and it wasn’t easy to find a way to move on. Linda was one of the things that kept me alive!“.
Training, overshadowed by shortages: “It was a tough school, but it was worth it!”
In the early years of her career, Linda Noskova did not have the same training conditions as many of her opponents. The family was constantly struggling to cover the expenses necessary to participate in the tournaments, and each competition was a new burden on the parents’ shoulders.
Jarda Pavelka, a former miner turned tennis coach, played an important role in its development. Although she did not have modern training methods, her experience and dedication contributed decisively to the training of the athlete who would become, years later, champion at Wimbledon.
“Coaches today hit a hundred balls in an hour, talk and take breaks. He’d throw him three or four hundred balls. He’d just say, ‘Come on! Wrong! Good! Work!’ It was a tough school, but it was worth it. I would tell him once what to do and he would do it immediately!”Pavelka also admitted.
The moment the student surpassed her “teacher”
During her rise, Linda Noskova also had the opportunity to work with Melanie Molitor, the mother and former trainer of Martina Hingis. The collaboration was an important moment for the family, who understood how high the standards are in performance tennis. A delay of just a few minutes to a practice was enough for Molitor to convey to them that discipline is essential to reach the elite of this sport.
Before being trained by established coaches, Linda took her first steps in tennis with her own father. He attended a special instructor course to be able to be a coach, fully involving himself in the development of his daughter. The two collaborated for years, and their partnership ended in a way that would remain memorable for the whole family: “He was 13 years old. He came on the court, took the racket in his left hand, even though he’s right-handed, and beat me 6-0. Then I broke my racket and said to him, ‘Honey, I’m done with you.’!“
