Sad News: Coco Gauff Missed Out On her Greatest Chance To Win Wimbledon Thanks To…
Coco Gauff can count herself unlucky for wasting a golden chance of winning Wimbledon for the first time.
The young American can still leave London with a piece of hardware from the doubles tournament together with compatriot Jessica Pegula, who booked their place in the last eight of that competition.
But Gauff’s singles campaign ended rather disappointingly in the fourth-round stage at the hands of the rapidly improving Emma Navarro. Gauff became the second biggest big name to exit the women’s tournament after World No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
The top seed’s defeat to Yulia Putintseva just 24 hours earlier couldn’t have been timely. After all, Swiatek has always been the stumbling block in Gauff’s path to winning the biggest trophies in recent months.
This assertion is backed by Gauff’s coach, Brad Gilbert, who recently opined that the 20-year-old would have been nailed on to win the French Open last month had Naomi Osaka converted her match point against Swiatek in the second round.
This would have prevented their semifinal clash, which the Atlanta native lost for the 11th time in 12 meetings. But Swiatek’s elimination from Wimbledon wasn’t the only boost that Gauff received in her title quest at the All England Club.
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World No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka withdrew from the tournament just hours before her first-round match because of a shoulder injury. In addition to Gauff, only Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini survived the onslaught of the top seeds who crashed out of the tournament before the second week.
The Kazakhstani is the highest-seeded player featuring in the opposite half of the draw to that of the American. Paolini, who is now the highest-ranked player in the bottom half, was expected to be Gauff’s projected quarterfinal opponent until her loss.
Moreover, Gauff’s pedigree would have earned her top favorite tag in the quarterfinal against the Italian (she leads 2-0 in head-to-head) and the semis had she got there to play one of Lulu Sun, the sensational New Zealander who is making waves at this tournament, or unseeded Croat Donna Vekic.
But ultimately, Wimbledon remains Gauff’s uncharted territory despite announcing her arrival on the big stage as a 15-year-old in 2019. It is the only Grand Slam she has failed to reach the quarterfinal stage or better.
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Djokovic Easily Overcomes Rune At Wimbledon Despite Stomach Issues
by Zachary Wimer
What sounded like a really special match at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships turned out to be a fairly comfortable cruise for Novak Djokovic, who bested Holger Rune in three sets.
Djokovic was the favorite in this match, and by a wide margin, because the young Dane simply isn’t good enough on grass, having very little experience on the surface. He’s proved quite problematic for the Serbian in the past, but on grass, the seven-time Wimbledon champion simply has the edge.
Still, Rune is one of the best players in the world, even if he hasn’t played that well on the green low-bouncing surface. However, his 37-year-old opponent didn’t have any problems, as he arguably cruised easier than in any of his previous matches, apart from his first-round win.
He didn’t lose a set, and he didn’t seem in trouble even when he allowed a break point in the second set. The first one opened with an early break for Djokovic, which was an ideal start for him.
It cut any hope Rune had of jumping out to a great start, and that kind of set the tone, especially since the 24-time major winner won the first 12 points of the match.
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The Dane never properly recovered, and it took him until very late in the second set to find his first break point, even though the Serbian struggled with stomach issues during the set and even rushed to the bathroom during a changeover.
Djokovic was able to save it and hold his serve to close out the second set as well, and then he started the third set with an early beak as well. Rune missed his serve a lot in this match, and that proved to be a problem.
Whenever he gave Djokovic a lot of problems, it came in combination with his serve firing well and the shots hitting as well. This time, he wasn’t hitting well and surely didn’t have his serve to fall back on.
Djokovic played a very good match to win it in three simple sets: 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, and reach his 60th Grand Slam quarter-final.
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Novak Djokovic vs Holger Rune Match Stats:
| Novak Djokovic | Holger Rune | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Aces | 3 |
| 2 | Double Faults | 4 |
| 64% | First Serve % | 54% |
| 75% (39/52) | Points Won After First Serve % | 68% (30/44) |
| 72% (21/29) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 49% (18/37) |
| 29% (4/14) | Break Point Conversion | 0% (0/2) |
| 21 | Winners | 15 |
| 22 | Unforced Errors | 29 |
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