Edmund crashes out + Coco wins again
Cheers ring out for the 15-year-old as she sails into round 3
THEY closed the new roof on Court 1 and the newest star in the world of tennis went and blew it right back off again. Coco Tops? Cor Blimey? Whatever name you prefer, whatever hype you apply, the narrative of Cori ‘ Coco’ Gauff really is getting silly in the most marvellous way.
It is the acceleration, the speed at which we are moving on from wonder at what a 15-year-old can do, to the curiosity at what she might soon achieve.
True, tennis more than most sports offers caution against the perils of predictions in youth. Too many have burnt brightly early on and then just burned.
But for now, it is hard to be anything other than amazed after seeing how she followed up on that win over Venus Williams with this systematic, blemish-free demolition of Magdalena Rybarikova. If anything, it was an even better showing than what she produced in the first round.
Once more, it was the groundstrokes that truly caught the eye. She has a similar build to Williams, but she also hits it in a way reminiscent of the great American when she broke through way back when. Flat, hard, accurate, fearless, always fearless.
To see that lack of caution from the very first game here, on this stage, was quite something, and more still when you consider the misleading nature of Rybarikova’s ranking of 139.
For a truer picture, understand that she was the 19th seed here a year ago and a semi-finalist in 2017.
The Slovakian’s slump in recent months is relevant, of course, but it is rare that a player of such history could be picked apart as brutally as this, with one break in the first set and two in the second. More numbers: 18 winners, only 10 unforced errors, 85 per cent of points on her first serve were won, not a single break point faced. Imperious at any age.When she was done, there were
none of the tears of Monday. Just a double fist pump and a scream to her folks, Corey and Candi.
It will have been heard far beyond that coaching box, all the way to world No 60 Polona Hercog, whom she faces next. Maybe that will be the point at which the music stops, maybe it won’t. Either way, it will restart soon enough.
For now, she is making it look easy, even if Gauff did admit the sudden spotlight has been disorientating. Speaking after the 6-3, 6-3 win, she said: ‘It was honestly so hard just with social media and everything trying to focus on my next match because people are still posting about Venus. I just tried my best to reset. That night, after Venus, I went to bed at 12.30am.
‘I wasn’t expecting any of this. A lot of celebrities were DM’ing, posting me. One is Navia Robinson. She’s an actress. Storm Reid, another actor as well. I’m kind of starstruck. It’s been hard to reset.’
We will have to take her word for it because her tennis and her press conferences smack of someone feeling extremely comfortable in her first Grand Slam. She said she relaxed for this match by watching make-up tutorials and prank shows on YouTube, and on court she is feeling increasingly sure of her place.
‘I think I’ve reached almost the best mentality I can get to,’ she said. ‘Sometimes you can kind of fake it until you make it. But I’m not faking it, at least right now.’
That was shown in the way she dismantled an opponent double her age. She got the decisive first break for 4-2 in the opening set and again at 1-1 in the second. With Rybarikova serving to stay in the match at 5-3 down, a clean winner followed by an error from the 30-year-old ended the match.
Amusingly, she had no idea who she was facing next. Hercog, by contrast, will be in no doubt about what is coming her way.