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'Veteran' Gauff completes Slam semi-final set with Wimbledon fightback / Photo: © AFP
'Veteran' Gauff completes Slam semi-final set with Wimbledon fightback
Coco Gauff produced another gritty comeback to defeat fellow American Jessica Pegula at Wimbledon on Tuesday and become the youngest player to reach the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams since Maria Sharapova.
The 22-year-old, playing in her first Wimbledon quarter-final, dug deep to fight back from a set down for a second straight match and beat Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Centre Court.
"Just trusting my shots, I think I made a bit too many errors in the first set, rushing the rallies a little bit," said Gauff, after winning a fourth consecutive three-set tie at the All England Club this fortnight.
"I've been going three sets nearly every match, so I think when you have that faith as a competitor, you don't panic when you go a set down."
The two-time Grand Slam champion will face either Naomi Osaka or Karolina Muchova on Thursday in her first major semi-final since winning last year's French Open.
Sharapova was 20 years old when she completed the set of Grand Slam semi-final appearances at the 2007 French Open.
Gauff has previously struggled to find her best form on grass, despite knocking out Venus Williams en route to the last 16 on her major debut at Wimbledon in 2019 when aged 15.
She reached the semi-finals of each of the other three Slam tournaments by the age of 19, but had gone out in the first round in two of her previous three visits to Wimbledon.
"After seven years playing this tournament, I think it's the first time I was able to walk on Centre Court without any nerves, so I don't know if I'm becoming a vet," smiled Gauff.
"Considering I hadn't won a match in two years on grass before this tournament, I'm really happy with how I played today."
Fourth seed Pegula will be left to wonder what might have been as another opportunity for a first Grand Slam title passed her by.
The closest the 32-year-old has come to breaking her duck remains her 2024 US Open final loss to Aryna Sabalenka.
Pegula broke in the first game of the match to take control of the opening set, closing it out in the 10th game with a confident service hold.
Gauff, as in her last-16 win over Belinda Bencic, battled back, though, and saved three break points in the second set to stay afloat.
She moved 5-3 in front as Pegula faltered, then reeled off three straight points from 15-30 down to force a decider.
Gauff was broken as Pegula levelled the third at 3-3, but then reeled off three straight games to race to the finish line.
O.Anderson--SFF
