You go, Coco!
CORI GAUFF, 15, ADVANCES IN WIMBLEDON
WIMBLEDON, England — Wimbledon's teenage sensation has done it again.
The further Cori `Coco' Gauff advances in the tournament, the more her name leaves the tennis world in various stages of shock and awe. But the question remains can she be the youngest to win the tournament since the Open Era began, and of course, can she be the youngest to win a Grand Slam title in a singles match since 16-year-old Martina Hingis won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and French Open in 1997.
It was easy to forget that Coco is still just 15 as she stood on the grass of Centre Court, pounding her chest and shouting, “Let's go! Come on!” to celebrate a 32-stroke point that forced a third set in her match Friday evening at Wimbledon.
Up in the stands, Mom rose to pump a fist and yell, “Yes!” Thousands of spectators jumped out of their seats, too, roaring. By then, Gauff already twice had been a point from losing in the third round to Polona Hercog of Slovenia.
Most players, no matter the age, would not be able to find their way out of that sort of a deficit on this imposing a stage, would not be able to handle that sort of stress and figure out a way. Gauff is, quite clearly, not most players. That much has been established. How far can she go, both this fortnight and in the future? The tennis world is watching, waiting to find out.
That Gauff, ranked 313th and facing another unseeded player, was scheduled to appear at Wimbledon's main stadium says plenty about what a sensation the Floridian already is. That she won this one, and how she did — erasing a pair of match points and coming back to beat the 28-year-old Hercog 3-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5 — offer some insight into what Gauff might become.
“Right now, I'm just super-relieved that it's over,” said Gauff, who will face former No. 1 Simona Halep in the fourth round Monday. “I always knew that I could come back, no matter what the score is.”
As it is, Gauff was the youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon in the professional era, winning three matches last week against higherranked women in the preliminary rounds.
Then, by upsetting five-time champion Venus Williams, who is 39, in the first round of the main event, Gauff became the youngest woman to win a match at the All England Club since 1991, when Jennifer Capriati reached the semifinals at 15.
Next came a win against 2017 Wimbledon semifinalist Magdalena Rybarikova, who is 30.
Against Hercog, who is ranked 60th and is now 0-4 in third-round matches at majors, Gauff dropped a set for the first time this tournament, then trailed 5-2 in the second.
With Gauff serving at 30-40, Hercog was a point from victory. But the teen conjured up a backhand slice winner that dropped right on the chalk.
“I'm happy that the slice down the line went in,” Gauff would say later.
After her aggressive style paid off there, it was Hercog who really went into a shell, playing so cautiously and making mistake after mistake. A big one came when Hercog served for the match at 5-3 and held her second match point: She doublefaulted.
They would play for another 1½ hours. Hercog would never again get that close to winning. Gauff didn't let her.
HAWK-EYE
Caroline Wozniacki felt like she was up against two opponents on No. 2 Court — Zhang Shuai and Hawk-Eye. She lost to both.
The former No. 1 from Denmark grew increasingly frustrated with the review system during her match against Zhang, insisting that it was incorrectly overturning decisions in her opponent's favor.
“How are we playing with HawkEye that is this bad? This is not fair,” Wozniacki told the chair umpire after a second call went against her, and argued that the replay system's cameras had been set up incorrectly. “It's crazy.”
Wozniacki was up 4-0 in the first set but lost 6-4, 6-2. Her argument with the chair umpire happened in the second set after Zhang challenged a decision that her shot was long, and Hawk-Eye ruled it was in. Her husband, former NBA player David Lee, even yelled from the player's box that the shot had been out.
“Obviously when you think you've won the point and then have to replay, that can be frustrating,” Wozniacki said in her news conference. “I thought there was a few ones that I saw way differently. But it is what it is. You can't really change a Hawk-Eye call. Maybe it was right. I just saw it differently.”
TOO MUCH COLOR
It was hats off to Novak Djokovic on No. 1 Court.
Or “for” Djokovic, rather.
The top-ranked Serb wasn't allowed to wear his cap for the match against Hurkacz after the chair umpire ruled that its black lining violated Wimbledon's strict rules for all-white clothing.
He was questioned about the very same hat in his previous match before being allowed to wear it, and was a bit perplexed about the decision.
“Last match I was starting to unpack my hat. The chair umpire said he needs to check whether or not I'm able to play with it,” Djokovic said. “He got a confirmation that I'm able to play. So I got the permission. I played with the hat. The same hat I took out now, I was not able to play with it. That's why I was just questioning that call. I mean, no one has approached me before the match to tell me,W` el l, you can't really play with the hat this match.' That's all.”
Despite the sunny weather and temperatures reaching 81 degrees F (27 degrees C), Djokovic didn't seem to be too bothered by the wardrobe mishap.
“I just accepted it and dealt with it,” he said. “That's it.”