Follow The Athletic’s Wimbledon coverageWelcome to the Wimbledon briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament.On Day 11, two kinds of breakthrough, a mixed doubles title for a singles star, and a huge shock.How did two semifinalists make progress even as one lost?As Linda Nosková and Marta Kostyuk shook hands and left Centre Court after their semifinal Thursday evening, there was the usual dynamic: One winner and one loser. One stepping into their first Grand Slam final, the other thwarted.Nosková, the 21-year-old Czech whose buzzsaw serve and pillowy touch have propelled her through the draw this past fortnight, took a 6-4, 6-4 win over the 24-year-old Ukrainian. But Kostyuk, who has done tremendous work of her own this season to add solidity and evenness to a tennis arsenal with impossible peaks, but also deep troughs, had reasons to do much more than feel the agony of missing out.Just over a month ago, she had never played a major semifinal. Now she has played two in a row. She lost both, the first to eventual champion Mirra Andreeva at the French Open. But whether or not Nosková triumphs over compatriot Karolína Muchová Saturday, Kostyuk is on an upward trajectory while 0-2 in major semifinals.What's the longest rally in tennis history?Tifo Sports“Nothing changed today. I’m happy with the run. If someone told me two weeks ago I’m going to be here, I would take it without thinking,” she said in a news conference.Like many tennis players, she has found decoupling success from self-worth a challenge in the past, has arrived at this mindset with plenty of help from her coach, Sandra Zaniewska, and from therapy, Kostyuk said during a recent interview. On Thursday, she was introspective but undimmed, and even went into one of the subjects that tennis players rarely touch. Everybody plays good and great matches all year. The important thing is learning to do it in the big ones — and sometimes, that needs a little fortune.Nosková needed little of that Thursday, playing the kind of devastating tennis that will beat whoever is on the other side of the net. Still, players don’t go for the lines on every ball. They just often find them if they are in a groove.“A little bit of luck, maybe, would be good. I didn’t have any in both matches,” Kostyuk said.“I mean, honestly, jokes aside, I think it’s an important factor, because a lot of things need to align for you to win the title. To play a good match, to be at the level where I am, it’s not an easy thing to do. That’s for sure.“But yeah, I mean, two times. I played my first semifinal one month ago, and now I’m playing second. It’s a bit of a short time span for these things to kind of create a pattern in some way. I’m hoping I’m going to have a lot more opportunities.”