NEW YORK — Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova is beginning to look increasingly comfortable carrying the expectations that come with being a Grand Slam winner.
The Czech star moved into the third round of the 2026 US Open after overpowering Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee 6-4, 6-2 in their second-round encounter at Louis Armstrong Stadium, extending one of the hottest Grand Slam streaks in women’s tennis this season.
Noskova, the tournament’s No. 6 seed, needed one hour and 18 minutes to dispatch the world No. 76 Thai player. The scoreline may have looked comfortable, but Tararudee stayed with the Wimbledon champion through much of the opening set before Noskova finally created the separation she needed.
Both players protected serve early, but Noskova secured the opening set’s only break in the seventh game before closing it out 6-4. She then broke Tararudee twice early in the second set, establishing a lead the Thai player could not recover from.
Noskova finished the match with 25 winners and 20 unforced errors, compared with Tararudee’s 14 winners and 15 errors. The Czech also struck seven aces, strengthening her reputation as one of the most dangerous servers remaining in the women’s draw.
More significantly, the victory extended Noskova’s run to nine consecutive Grand Slam match wins.
That streak includes the seven matches she won on her way to the Wimbledon championship in July and her first two victories in New York. According to the WTA, Noskova is the first woman in 2026 to record nine consecutive Grand Slam match victories.
From Wimbledon Champion to US Open Contender
Noskova arrived at Flushing Meadows facing a different type of pressure than she had encountered at previous Grand Slams.
The 21-year-old captured her first major championship at Wimbledon in July, defeating fellow Czech Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in an historic all-Czech women’s final. The triumph sent Noskova into the sport’s elite and transformed her from a dangerous young contender into a player opponents now expect to challenge for major titles.
Yet she has repeatedly insisted that the Wimbledon breakthrough would not change the way she approaches tournaments.
That mentality was tested immediately in New York.
Noskova struggled early in her opening-round match against American Katie Volynets, falling behind 5-2 in the first set before turning the contest around dramatically. She eventually won 11 of the final 12 games to secure a 7-5, 6-1 victory.
Against Tararudee, there was considerably less drama.
Noskova controlled the key moments and maintained her energy despite playing at night, something she acknowledged could be challenging after the match. Reuters reported that the Czech was pleased with her ability to sustain her intensity from beginning to end.
The numbers suggest that Wimbledon was no isolated breakthrough.
Noskova has now won 16 of her last 19 tour-level matches since the beginning of the grass-court portion of the season. She has also recorded 11 Grand Slam match victories in 2026, already the highest total of her career in a single season.
She has struck 88 aces in Grand Slam competition this year, the highest women’s total reported by the WTA at this stage of the season.
Tararudee’s US Open Run Ends — But Thai Tennis Has Reason for Optimism
The defeat ended Tararudee’s first appearance in the US Open main draw, but reaching the second round represented another important step in the 22-year-old Thai player’s rise.
Tararudee entered the tournament ranked No. 76 in the world after reaching a career-high No. 72 in August. Her ranking has climbed dramatically from No. 143 at the end of 2025.
She reached the second round in New York by defeating American Elvina Kalieva 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 in her opener.
Her 2026 campaign has become the strongest season of her career. The WTA notes that Tararudee has reached the second round at both Wimbledon and the US Open and collected two WTA 125 titles this season.
Her progress also carries significance for Thai tennis.
Tararudee spent recent years steadily climbing the professional rankings after training at the academy of former ATP world No. 9 Paradorn Srichaphan in Bangkok. Her breakthrough accelerated in 2025, when she reached a WTA 125 final in Porto and then her first tour-level semifinal in Chennai — becoming the first Thai woman since Luksika Kumkhum in 2017 to reach a WTA semifinal.
Her meeting with Noskova was only her second career match against a Top 10 opponent, according to the WTA.
The result showed that a gap still exists between Tararudee and the sport’s current Grand Slam contenders, but getting onto stages such as Louis Armstrong Stadium is itself evidence of how quickly her career has developed.
The Next Challenge: Ann Li
Noskova’s reward is a third-round meeting with American Ann Li, the No. 29 seed.
Li reached the round of 32 after surviving a much more demanding second-round encounter against Donna Vekic, rallying for a 5-7, 7-6, 6-4 victory in a match lasting two hours and 44 minutes.
Noskova and Li have met once previously on the WTA Tour.
That encounter came in Dubai earlier in 2026, where Noskova prevailed in three sets.
On paper, the Wimbledon champion will enter their New York rematch as the favorite.
But the stakes are beginning to rise.
Noskova has now matched her best previous US Open performance by reaching the third round for the second consecutive year. A victory over Li would therefore take her deeper into the tournament than she has ever gone before.
More importantly, another victory would push her Grand Slam winning streak into double figures.
That is where this US Open campaign starts becoming more than a successful follow-up to Wimbledon.
Noskova came to New York insisting she was not interested in living off her biggest trophy.
After nine straight Grand Slam victories, the question is changing.
It is no longer whether the Wimbledon champion can handle the pressure of becoming a major winner.
It is whether Linda Noskova is beginning to turn one extraordinary Grand Slam run into something much bigger.
WWC ONE MEDIA MJE
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