Maybe Cori “Coco” Gauff knew it when she won the second set, pounding her chest and shouting, her mother doing the same in a box near the court. Maybe she knew it upon breaking Polona Hercog in the third, the Slovenian’s forehand flying wide and her dad, Corey, pumping a fist. Maybe she didn’t know it for sure until the end, when she completed an improbable comeback for anyone — least of all a 15-year-old at tennis’ most hallowed tournament — by watching Hercog’s forehand sail long to seal the match after a grueling three hours.
That was when Gauff started jumping up and down, racked with joy, her parents celebrating by huddling with the traveling party jumping themselves. Gauff walked to the net to shake Hercog’s hand, having completed something remarkable, winning 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 to seal a spot in the Round of 16. At all of 15 years of age, Gauff is the youngest female player to get that far in Wimbledon since Jennifer Capriati made the semifinal in 1991.
That by itself is remarkable. It only adds to the feat that Gauff beat Venus Williams, of whom she seems a carbon copy at times, in the first round to start her run, a moment that has come to overshadow everything since, and it only adds to the feat that she won her third match by staving off two match points in the second set.
“I could lie and say I felt normal,” Gauff told reporters after her second-round win. “It was honestly so hard just with social media and everything trying to focus on (Wednesday’s match) because people are still posting about Venus.
“I wasn’t expecting any of this. A lot of celebrities were (direct messaging), posting me. I’m kind of starstruck.”
No doubt Friday’s marathon win will only add to the barrage.
Even on the tournament grounds, Gauff has been watched by both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. On Friday, she at times seemed a 15-year-old going up against a 28-year-old with five WTA titles to her name, the 313th-best player against the 60th-best player. Where Hercog looked to attack, Gauff was on her heels playing defense. Where Hercog settled in, Gauff faltered with mistakes, and it seemed that this was all going to be normal.
Gauff was going to lose. Her run was going to end in the third round, a nice story through the first week at Wimbledon.
Then it all flipped.
Gauff battled back to win Hercog’s first match point, then to win the game. Minutes later, with another match point in hand, Hercog double-faulted, then let Gauff break her serve for the first time all day, breathing life into the revival and tying the second set at five.
They traded the next two games, and in the ensuing tiebreak, Gauff found momentum, attacking Hercog’s backhand as the Slovenian could only play defense, slicing back until she could no longer keep up. After a brief stoppage in play so Hercog could receive medical treatment heading into the third set, Gauff won by breaking Hercog’s serve twice, reversing the earlier trend.
Gauff gets her biggest test yet in the Round of 16, facing seventh-ranked Simona Halep on Monday.
Another teenage American, Amanda Anisimova, reached the French Open semifinals just last month, and bowed out quietly at Wimbledon, proving that a tournament-long run is, in fact, just that. Still, London is a bigger stage than Paris, and Gauff is two years younger, oozing potential.
As she exited Center Court on Friday, comeback win in hand, it was hard to think about anything but that.
