Coco Gauff overcomes Jessica Pegula to reach Wimbledon semi-final

Coco Gauff demonstrated her trademark resilience and tenacity as she fought back from a set down to knock fourth seed Jessica Pegula out of Wimbledon and reach the semi-finals for the first time. Pegula, the highest seed left in the quarter-finals, broke Gauff in the first game and held the upper hand throughout the first set. However, she was left to rue her failure to capitalize on opportunities and general passivity in the second and third sets as seventh seed Gauff fought back, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 48 minutes.

The two-time grand slam champion, who made her breakthrough at Wimbledon as a 15-year-old in 2019, grew increasingly confident as she tightened up on serve and minimized her errors. After hitting four double faults and 17 unforced errors in the first set, she produced just three more double faults and 15 unforced errors over the next two sets. Conversely, Pegula paid the price for two poor service games, at 3-4 in the second set and at 3-3 in the decider, when she was broken to love twice and unable to recover.

Gauff smiled at her box and mouthed, “Oh my God, how?” as she clinched victory with Pegula’s ball into the net. She remarked later, “Just because so many three-setters, it’s like how am I getting out of these matches, just winning them?” On court, she stated, “Honestly pretty insane [to make the semi-finals], considering I hadn’t won a match on grass in two years before this tournament! Really happy with how I played today; Jess is an incredible opponent and person, and playing against her is never easy. In the first set, I made too many errors, rushing the rallies too quickly. I felt the last two sets were really great tennis. I’ve gone to three sets in the last few, [you have to] have that faith in yourself when the match goes the distance and when you lose the first set you’re not panicking.”

Now having won four three-set matches in a row, Gauff seems to have found her rhythm on grass. This journey follows her thrilling win against 11th seed Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, where she clinched victory just before Wimbledon’s curfew. Having never previously gone beyond the fourth round at SW19, she expressed confidence, stating, “Regardless of how the rest of this tournament goes, I really think I've found a bit of a breakthrough on grass. I think just trusting myself, trusting that my groundstrokes are good enough to be with anyone on this surface. The biggest thing is my athletic ability — I am a good mover, which translates to all surfaces.”

Addressing expectations placed on her since her notable breakthrough here six years ago, when she defeated Venus Williams to reach the fourth round, Gauff said, “Some people had me going out in the first or second round! I’m just happy to get to the semis. I didn’t feel nervous; maybe I’m becoming a vet…” Gauff's next challenge will be against the winner of the match between 14th seed Naomi Osaka and 10th seed Karolina Muchova, who play later on Tuesday.