Wimbledon goes COCO NUTS
Cheers ring out for the 15-year-old as she sails into round 3 v
THEY closed the new roof on Court One 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 wonderful 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 yet 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 by Gauff’s talent. She announced herself with that win over the old warrior Venus Williams on Monday, but really screamed something else last night. It was a performance, a demolition of Magdalena Rybarikova, that indicated her amazing future might not be so far away.
The groundstrokes are what truly caught the eye. She has the same build as Venus Williams, but she hits it like she did on her breakthrough as well. Flat, hard, amazingly accurate, fearless.
To see that lack of caution from the very first game 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.
Her slump 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 ten unforced errors, 85 per cent of points won on serve, 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. It will have been heard around the sport.
To get an idea of her impact, consider that the cheer for Caroline Wozniacki’s win in the preceding match was not nearly as loud as that which came when it was then announced Gauff’s match was being shifted from Court Two. She was suddenly under the lights and that is somewhat appropriate for a player whose shock emergence on the scene has lit up the opening week.
Nerves? A negative reaction to the hoopla? Nothing of the sort. She led Rybarikova out on to court, headphones in, and then proceeded to play the first game like an old pro. A 105mph serve, a clean backhand winner across court, a long rally of intensity and fearless hitting to secure the hold — she was once again fronting up a veteran with the best kind of indifference.
If there was a warning of potential difficulties, of anything to urge caution, it was an early double fault. She had a few of those against Williams as well, and threw in another for 30-30 and a spot of pressure at 2-2. It might have got hairy but a winner on the run alleviated the threat and the hold followed soon after.
A delightful forehand down the line carried Gauff to 30-0 in the next game and from those foundations came the breakthrough, wrapped up when Rybarikova shanked a backhand into the net. Barely ten minutes later, the first set was sealed and delivered with two clean winners and two unreturnable serves. Marvellous stuff.
She forced two break points at 1-1 in the second and a long forehand by Rybarikova allowed daylight between them. Gauff then had two chances to get a further break at 3-1 ahead — unconverted — and survived the biggest threat in the match to date on her own delivery in the next game. At its toughest point, serving at deuce in that game, she hit a 115mph ace and screamed ‘Come on’.
With the clock showing 9.15pm, she held a match point on her opponent’s serve. By the time it reached 9.16pm, she was in the third round. An improbable tale is getting wackier.