Coco Gauff has made a habit of winning three sets at Wimbledon this year and her latest 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 comeback against good friend and compatriot Jessica Pegula earned her a place in the semi-finals of a grass-court Grand Slam for the first time.
The victory in 1 hour 48 minutes makes the two-time major champion the seventh active tennis player to reach the semi-finals or better at all four Grand Slam tournaments in her career, joining Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Karolina Pliskova, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.
Gauff, who has now played four straight three-setters in five rounds, described the All England Club game as “pretty crazy”. She entered Wimbledon on a four-match losing streak on the surface and also came from a set down to defeat Belinda Bencic in the round of 16.
“Considering that I hadn’t won a match on grass in two years leading up to this tournament… I’m definitely very happy with how I played today,” she said. “Jess is an incredible competitor and person and playing against her is never easy. I’m just happy I was able to get through it today.”
Gauff recovers from slow start
Pegula is the match favorite on paper, and not just because of her 13-6 record on grass over the past two years. She was previously 5-3 against Gauff and won their only previous meeting on grass in straight sets.
She started with a break of Gauff’s serve from a 40-0 deficit in the first game, then broke serve again at 3-3 on her way to winning the first set. But after that, Pegula spent the rest of the match playing catch-up. She lost the final three games of the second set and, with the exception of holding serve early in the deciding game, never took a lead on the scoreboard.
Pegula went off to wonder what could have happened.
Pegula entered the final eight as the highest ranked player remaining in the women’s draw. But she leaves, probably regretting missed opportunities.
She had two break points on Gauff’s first serve in the second set, another at 1-1 and another at 1-0 in the decider. She also had 0-30 at 3-3 in the second set and three more 15-30 opportunities in Gauff’s remaining serves.
The 32-year-old has dropped to 3-7 in Grand Slam quarterfinals in her career.
More to come…