PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Chicago White Sox selected UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky on Saturday with the first pick of the MLB amateur draft.
A 6-foot-2 right-handed hitter, Cholowsky was a Golden Spikes finalist at UCLA and had a 1.088 OPS with 21 homers and 60 RBIs in his junior season.
Tampa Bay picks second and Minnesota is third. San Francisco is fourth and Pittsburgh fifth. Kansas City, Baltimore, the Athletics, Atlanta and Colorado round out the top 10.
The White Sox had the top selection for the first time since taking Harold Baines in 1977.
The White Sox got the No. 1 pick after they lost 102 games last season and won the draft lottery and have pegged Cholowsky as a future star that can help them win their first World Series title since 2005.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
FILE - UCLA's Roch Cholowsky reacts after hitting a home run during an NCAA baseball game against Texas Christian, Feb. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong, File)
LONDON (AP) — Linda Noskova is the latest in a long line of Czech women to win Wimbledon.
The 21-year-old Noskova recovered from a second-set meltdown in which she wasted five match points to overcome Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in an all-Czech final on Saturday for her first Grand Slam trophy.
When Noskova finally won it with a service winner on her sixth match point, she covered her face and dropped down to the grass on her back.
Noskova became the third Czech woman in four years to win the grass-court major, after Marketa Vondrousova in 2023 and Barbora Krejcikova in 2024.
Petra Kvitova, who won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, was in attendance, as was the greatest Czech-born player of them all, Martina Navratilova — who won a record nine singles titles at the All England Club.
Navratilova looked on from the Royal Box, where she was seated next to Kate, the Princess of Wales, who was due to present the Venus Rosewater Dish trophy to Noskova.
Muchova and Noskova played doubles together at the 2024 Paris Olympics and finished fourth.
In the men’s final on Sunday, top-ranked Jannik Sinner will attempt to defend his title against French Open champion Alexander Zverev.
Noskova led 5-2 in the second set before she lost five straight games to send it to a third.
When Noskova wasted a chance to serve it out at 5-3 in the second, she placed fingers in both ears to drown out the crowd noise on the changeover. Then she draped one of Wimbledon’s strawberry-red towels over her head after she dropped her serve again to give Muchova a 6-5 lead and a chance for her opponent to serve it out — which Muchova did.
It’s Noskova’s second grass title of the season after beating Jessica Pegula in the Berlin Open final three weeks ago.
But as this match displayed, it hasn’t been all straightforward. Noskova saved a match point in the third set of her third-round match against Sorana Cirstea.
The 12th-ranked Noskova will climb to No. 7 — a new career-high — when the next rankings are released on Monday.
Jana Novotna, one of Noskova’s first coaches, also won Wimbledon (in 1998).
Now Noskova is the youngest woman to win Wimbledon since Kvitova was also 21 in 2011.
And it marks the second consecutive Grand Slam won by a player 21 or younger after Mirra Andreeva claimed the French Open at 19 last month. It’s the first time that’s happened for Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year since Justine Henin and Serena Williams, respectively, claimed those titles in 2003.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Linda Noskova of Czech Republic reacts after winning against Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic in the women's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Linda Noskova of Czech Republic reacts after winning against Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic in the women's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic returns the ball to Linda Noskova of Czech Republic in the women's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Linda Noskova of Czech Republic returns the ball to Karolina Muchova of Czech Republicin the women's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Linda Noskova of Czech Republic reacts as she heads towards her chair after losing the second set against Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic in the women's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Linda Noskova of Czech Republic celebrates a point against Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic in the women's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Linda Noskova of Czech Republic celebrates a point against Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic in the women's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic drops her racket as she reacts to winning against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in their semifinal women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic serves against Coco Gauff of the United States in their semifinal women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic serves against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in their semifinal women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic returns the ball to Coco Gauff of the United States celebrates a point against in their semifinal women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
