Coco Gauff roared back from a set down to defeat Jessica Pegula and reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.
Gauff, the seventh seed at the All England Club, emerged a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victor on Centre Court in a thriller to open play on the second Tuesday.
The Americans produced a spectacle, with Pegula looking to exploit the well-documented weaknesses in the Gauff game, namely the 22-year-old’s forehand and second service.
That was particularly on show in the opening set, with Gauff, the 2023 French Open and 2025 US Open champion, blowing a 40-0 lead to be broken in the very first game.
That set a nasty precedent for the world No7, who saw herself making error after error as Pegula, who equalled her best-ever run at Wimbledon by reaching the last eight here, took advantage, stepping inside the baseline to attack her return and target the Gauff forehand, which was laden with mistakes and unforced errors throughout the first set.
A final netted forehand was enough to snare first blood for Pegula, the fourth seed, in 35 minutes.
But Gauff is not a double major winner for no reason. When the going got tough, she got tougher, solidifying her game and going back to the basics.
She took some power off her serve, concentrated on keeping her forehand in play, and showed more variety to go up 5-3 with a break to love, having staved off two dangerous break points early on in the second.
Now in her groove, and with the British faithful well and truly behind her, the wind was in Gauff’s sails, as her saunter into the semis got that bit easier.
It was Pegula’s turn to hit errors, and Gauff’s forehand was finally up to scratch; a final pass took her compatriot by surprise to earn her the decisive break and go up 2-1 in the decider. Cue a roar from the youngster, and Centre Court itself.
She was pegged back for 3-3 as the fourth seed rallied, but Gauff was not to be denied, ripping her backhand from side to side to reassert her break advantage, and she closed out the affair in style.
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She faces either Naomi Osaka or Karolina Muchova in the last four, as she reaches the semi-finals for the very first time.