There was something poetic about the way Coco Gauff sealed her place in the Wimbledon quarter-finals. A service winner, a tap of the wrist, referencing the tournament's mandatory curfew with barely two minutes to spare, and a smile that said everything. The 22-year-old defeated Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on No. 1 Court to reach the last eight at the All England Club for the very first time.
Seven years after she burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old qualifier and stunned the tennis world by reaching the fourth round, Gauff has finally pushed past that barrier. It has not come easily. She has exited at the fourth round on three other occasions without winning a single set, and suffered first-round losses twice, including last year. Even her lone lead-in grass event this season ended in a first-round defeat.
"We don't have the best relationship," Gauff admitted of grass just days ago, a candid acknowledgment from a player who already owns titles at the US Open and Roland Garros. Wimbledon has simply been a different beast.
What makes this run more impressive is how she has had to dig for every result. Against Solana Sierra, she survived two match points and clawed back from 3-0 down in a deciding tiebreak. Claire Liu also pushed her to three sets. The Bencic win was no different, hard-fought from the very start.
Now standing between Gauff and a first-ever Grand Slam grass semifinal is her compatriot Jessica Pegula, setting up a compelling all-American quarter-final on the lawns of SW19. TennisDraw users backing a deep Gauff run will be watching this one very closely.