The crucial trait behind Coco Gauff’s rise from grass-court sceptic to Wimbledon title contender
· Yahoo Sports
Coco Gauff has become Wimbledon’s poster girl for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. The American’s grit and resolve is remarkable, and her ability to grind out wins from the bleakest of positions has single-handedly rescued her tournament, not once but multiple times – to the point that she mouthed, “Oh my god, how?!” to her team in disbelief as she reached the semi-finals.
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Against Jessica Pegula she played a horror first service game and appeared to be rapidly heading for the exit as her errors mounted, on the back foot for much of the first set and a half; against Solana Sierra she was two points from defeat as the Argentine served for the match, and another three points from defeat in the match tiebreak.
Coco Gauff is into the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time (Getty)But in every match her fighting spirit has been unparalleled, and that sheer determination and will to get through has proved the difference. Against Sierra she took advantage of the Argentine’s mettle deserting her in the closing stages before coming from behind in the match tie-break, winning the last six points to avoid a huge upset.
Against Belinda Bencic, literally racing against time before Wimbledon’s 11pm curfew came into effect, she played a monster service game to wrap up victory with two minutes to spare.
And against Pegula she refused to crack despite familiar woes on serve and on her forehand wing threatening to derail her against one of the most consistent players on the tour. As the match went on she grew in confidence, raining down excellent serves and standing firm behind 100mph+ second serves, in stark contrast to other tournaments, where that element of her game has unravelled.
She said of that match: “I felt like in the first set I was maybe rushing out of some points too early, either trying to either get out of the rally or overhit too much. Towards the end, I just really honed in on my game and realized I don't have to play a spectacular point every time to win, even though there were some spectacular points.”
And that summed it up: there certainly were extraordinary points, notably at 3-4, 40-30 up in the final set: Gauff pinwheeled back to retrieve a lob, then replied to a classic flat, hard ball from Pegulawith a drop shot, refusing to give up, and Pegula ultimately hit wide, one ball too many.
But more often than not she simply ground it out, forcing the error with her supreme athleticism, her immaculate defence and improbable ability to steal a point out of nothing. She will need both the spectacular and the solid against Karolina Muchova, her next opponent in Thursday’s semi-final.
Gauff has seen off fourth seed Jessica Pegula and 11th seed Belinda Bencic on her way to the last four (Getty)That she is even here, having won four three-setters, and five matches in a row, having previously not won a match on grass in two years, is a remarkable story in itself. She said after dumping out Pegula, the highest seed to reach the quarter-finals: “I think it feels really special considering the results I've had of late and just especially on this surface. It definitely is special. I think I'm able to relax a bit because I just feel regardless of how the rest of this tournament goes, I really think I've found a bit of a breakthrough on grass.
“Maybe the biggest thing is the athletic ability that I have. I am a good mover. I think, because of that, it translates to all surfaces.”
Gauff said previously that she took inspiration from Iga Swiatek’s run to the title last year: a player with a similar game style and a similarly torrid recent history on grass. And her mentality this year has been similar to Swiatek’s free-swinging attitude in 2025, with the Pole putting less pressure on herself after a string of results that fell below her perilously high standards.
Gauff's movement and athleticism have been key to her recent success on the surface (Reuters)Gauff’s Roland-Garros title defence this year ended in the third round, and she said: “I had way too high expectations and way too much pressure on myself, because I did feel like I was playing good tennis, and it just didn't show at that tournament. I think I mentally blocked myself.
“Maybe I should go into it like I'm approaching here, because those seem to be the tournaments I do better at.”
She has proven she can come from behind, that she can win when, by all rights, she really shouldn’t. Now she faces a different test: being the highest-ranked player left and the favourite. She has a winning head-to-head record against every player left in the draw, including an emphatic 6-1 record against Muchova, although they have never played on grass.
Gauff will play 10th seed Muchova in the final four (Reuters)Gauff is still only 22, which feels remarkable given her extended spell in the top ranks. Wimbledon was where she made her name as a precocious 15-year-old in 2019, upsetting Venus Williams on her way to the fourth round. In five attempts since then she could never quite match those levels, or go past that barrier. But something has clicked this year, her game finally marrying well on the grass, her ability to ‘win ugly’ now transcending surfaces.
Grigor Dimitrov was asked if he believed in destiny as he produced a gloriously cathartic run to the fourth round a year after his Wimbledon ended in tears. Given Gauff’s breakthrough came at this very tournament, and she is now the closest she has ever been to fulfilling the potential on grass that was obvious from that brilliant run, she was asked a similar question after her quarter-final win.
She said: “I do feel like in a way the story is already written. Do I feel like Wimbledon is part of my destiny? If you asked me seven days ago, the answer would have been no. Honestly, I was writing it off a little bit. But I hope it is part of my destiny, whether it's this year or in the future.”