By Janina Nuno Rios
NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Linda Noskova plans to drown her sorrows and enjoy New York after the Wimbledon champion came agonisingly close to a stunning upset against world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the U.S. Open quarter-finals on Tuesday.
The Czech led by a break in the deciding set and held an advantage in the final tiebreak before eventually falling 7-6(1) 3-6 7-6(10-7) to the two-time defending champion in a gruelling three-hour battle at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Rather than mope about the defeat, the 21-year-old has decided to make the most of the Big Apple before heading home.
“I’m going to stay for, like, three more days. I’m going to get drunk and forget about this, I guess,” Noskova told reporters with a laugh. “I’m old enough to do that, thankfully.”
“I love New York. I have so many places I want to go. I have a lot of great friends here. They will show me around and, you know, I will forget about it hopefully in the next couple of hours.”
There was plenty worth forgetting after Noskova repeatedly pushed top seed Sabalenka to the limit, only to watch the Belarusian fight back in the third set and prevail in the tiebreak.
Noskova admitted she could have made different decisions at crucial moments but said Sabalenka had produced her best tennis when it mattered.
Still, the defeat served as a reminder of how far Noskova has come since her Wimbledon breakthrough.
“I feel like I have that back,” she said of her motivation after previously struggling to find her hunger following recent success. “Such loss is good for the motivation… I have to take some positives from it all.”
Despite the disappointment, Noskova feels she belongs among the WTA elite, having reached a career-high world number six last month.
“After these matches when you’re so close… it kind of reminds you of where you are standing,” she said. “I will just try to keep going, you know. I feel great on court, which is always my main point, and ranking doesn’t really matter.”
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)
