Gauff, 15, loses in 4th round of Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON, England — Out of escapes, out of surprises, Coco Gauff knew her captivating Wimbledon ride at age 15 was nearing its conclusion.
The thousands of spectators at Court No. 1 on Monday realized it, too, so they made sure to show their appreciation for the youngest qualifier at the All England Club in the professional era and youngest Week 2 participant since 1991.
Fans, most of whom probably hadn’t heard of Gauff until last week, rose and roared as she fended off the initial two match points she faced against 2018 French Open champion Simona Halep. It was reminiscent of the way Gauff began a comeback victory in her previous match. This time, though, Gauff could not produce a victory, beaten by the older, more experienced opponent 63, 63.
“It was really surprising, because you don’t really expect this kind of support when you’re in another country, not your home country. I really did feel like I was probably playing in New York. I’m just really happy that people believe in me,” said Gauff, who beat Venus Williams in the first round for quite a Grand Slam tournament debut.
“I wasn’t feeling my best, I wasn’t playing my best,” Gauff said as she wiped away tears at her news conference. She said she wasn’t sure why she needed a visit from a doctor in the second set, “but they were still supporting me, no matter what.”
Though Gauff couldn’t get past Halep, a former No. 1ranked player, another American, 55thranked Alison Riske, stopped the 15match winning streak of the current No. 1, Ash Barty, eliminating her 36, 62, 63.
The men’s quarterfinals Wednesday are No. 1 Novak Djokovic against No. 21 David Goffin, No. 2 Roger Federer against No. 8 Kei Nishikori, No. 3 Rafael Nadal against 65thranked Sam Querrey, and No. 23 Roberto Bautista Agut against No. 26 Guido Pella.
Djokovic, Federer and Nadal all won in straight sets and are all in the quarters of a major tournament for the 24th time; one member of the Big Three won the title at 20 of those.
Querrey saved four break points to get past Tennys Sandgren 64, 67 (7), 76 (3), 76 (5) in the first allAmerican men’s Week 2 matchup at Wimbledon in 19 years. Pella erased a twoset deficit to edge 2016 runnerup Milos Raonic 36, 46, 63, 76 (3), 86.