Linda Noskova walked to her chair, fingers in her ears, and marched off Centre Court.
She knew the cheers, more in astonishment than jubilation, were not for her. The crowd were baying for more tennis and, somehow, they had got their wish.
After a dream first hour of this Wimbledon final, Noskova held a 6-2, 5-2 lead over Karolina Muchova.
The contest appeared done and yet 40 minutes later, when Noskova should have been strolling around the Wimbledon corridors, trophy in hand, she was leaving the court preparing for a deciding set.
Five championship points had come and gone. The relentless forehand hitting had broken down completely. From a potential blowout, the final had become a story of an extraordinary collapse.
Noskova's calm demeanour vanished with it, screaming in frustration and waving frantically at a box consisting of faces almost as stunned as hers.
And yet she recovered. The 21-year-old produced a herculean effort to put that behind her and display remarkable mental fortitude.
Almost an hour and a half later, Noskova was back on her chair, a towel again covering her head. This time it was hiding tears of joy.
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Noskova triumphed in the all-Czech showdown to claim her first Grand Slam title, winning 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in two hours and 29 minutes.
Only once before had she made it beyond the fourth round of a major. Now she joins the sport's very best, in doing so displaying the character to suggest many more titles could follow.
Linda Noskova claimed her first Grand Slam title with victory on Centre CourtGettyMuchova is allergic to grass and needs "pills, sprays, eyedrops" to step onto these courts. Those symptoms can be kept at bay, but in the first set the headaches were being caused by the tennis from the other side of the court.
She broke down in tears before her on-court interview after the match. After composing herself, she joked: “It’s really hard to find any words but I’ll start with Linda, my ex-friend.”
The pair both eased to comfortable opening holds, even if some tame unforced errors hinted at the nerves present. Both would have been relieved to quickly ensure there was no repeat of Amanda Anisimova's 6-0 6-0 defeat to Iga Swiatek in last year's final.
Noskova settled the better of the two on serve and Muchova struggled to get a read on it.
The 21-year-old swung a second serve ace out wide. One game started with an 89mph ace and finished with one up at 112mph.
Noskova won 92% of points on her first serve in the set and she combined that with dominance in the Muchova service games.
She broke with a backhand winner to lead 3-1 and consolidated it a game later with a sublime drop shot.
Muchova looked leggy and overpowered. Serving at 5-2 down after only 27 minutes, she staved off four break points but a fifth followed. A brilliant lob from Noskova landed just inside the baseline to convert it.
Noskova made a flying start to the Wimbledon final before the drama beganPANoskova pushed to get the job done on Muchova's serve at 5-2. The first two championship points faded away with loose backhands. Muchova then saved a third with a composed drop shot and clawed her way to a battling hold after a ten-minute game.
That was just the start of the drama. Serving for the title, Noskova raced to 30-0 and then the problems began. A remarkable passage of play followed, launched by Noskova producing a double fault on her fourth championship point.
Muchova brought up a succession of break points but Noskova's serve kept her at bay. Three break points in a row were saved by aces. "That's insane," was Martina Navratilova's verdict in the Royal Box.
The serve, though, was all Noskova had. Her forehand was by now ragged. She raced between points, desperately searching for the finish line as nerves tightened her up more and more. Another double fault came, so too another break point. Muchova took her seventh opportunity.
That made it 5-4 and Muchova still had to hold to level the set. Noskova earned a fifth championship point but a forehand winner was whipped past her.
Muchova held and, almost inevitably with Noskova's mind utterly scrambled, broke again to lead 6-5. Noskova threw a towel over her head as she sat at the changeover reflecting on the chaos. A few minutes later she was off court, the set in Muchova's possession.
The 21-year-old attempted to block out the noise as she faltered in the second setPAIt was difficult to see how Noskova would reset. Five championship points had gone for the 21-year-old in her first Grand Slam final. The best sports psychologist in the world would have struggled to register any positive thoughts.
Muchova was straight back on the front foot and earned three break points. The final seemed to be hers. Somehow, Noskova dug deeper than she has ever had to on a tennis court to save those and hold.
That visibly lifted her. Muchova swung a forehand wide to earn Noskova a break point and she took it, grinding down her compatriot in the rally.
Muchova made a stunning backhand pass to get a break point in the following point to get it back on serve, but Noskova denied her. She held to lead 3-0.
The marathon games had gone and instead routine holds followed. Here we were again, Muchova serving to stay in the match at 5-2 down, 75 minutes after she had done so in the second set.
No heroics were required as she held to love. At 5-3, it was over to Noskova once again. Having had a brush with disaster, she had no desire for a reunion.
A forehand was confidently dispatched and an ace brought her sixth championship point. When a first serve did not come back, the rollercoaster ride had no further to travel.