“Pretty insane” – Gauff completes her Grand Slam set with a first Wimbledon semifinal
Two years without a win on grass, and Coco Gauff (No 7) is a Wimbledon semifinalist. The American fought back from a set down to beat compatriot Jessica Pegula (No 4) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, becoming only the sixth woman since 2000 to reach the last four at all four majors before turning 23.
Coco Gauff, Wimbledon 2026 | © Ch. Caillaud / PsNewz
Two years without a win on grass, and now a Wimbledon semifinalist. Coco Gauff shook off a nervous start and a lost opening set to beat fellow American Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday, the No. 7 seed reaching the last four at the All England Club for the first time by getting past seed No. 4 Pegula in an all-American quarterfinal.
Before this fortnight, the American had lost each of her last three matches on the surface: a first-round exit at Wimbledon last year to Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska (6-7 (3), 1-6), and last year, a back-to-back Round-of-16 defeats at Berlin – to Chinese qualifier Xinyu Wang in 2025 (3-6, 3-6) and to Spanish wild card Paula Badosa, ranked 142nd, last month (6-1, 3-6, 2-6). Her most recent win on grass before London had come at the 2024 Championships.
The result completed a rare landmark. At 22, Gauff has now reached the women’s singles semifinals at all four Grand Slam events before turning 23 – the sixth player to do so since 2000, after Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova. It is her sixth Grand Slam semifinal but her first at Wimbledon, and her first of the season, on a surface that had given her almost nothing until this fortnight. Her four wins here were her first on grass in two years.
“Honestly, pretty insane, considering I hadn’t won a match on grass in two years before this tournament,” Gauff said after the match. “I’m definitely just really happy with how I played today. Jess is an incredible opponent.”
The turnaround was built on ruthlessness at the big moments. Gauff was broken in the opening game and again immediately after drawing level at 3-3, one loose service game enough to hand Pegula the first set. From there, though, she converted every break point she created, finishing five from five against Pegula’s three from seven.
“vINTAGE cOCO”
She held firm through the second set before breaking for 5-3, then traded blows in a third full of breaks, answering Pegula’s break back for 3-3 with one of her own and finally taking the racquet out of her compatriot’s hands on match point.
Behind it was a sharper, more aggressive Gauff – 25 winners against 32 unforced errors – and a second serve that stopped leaking points, climbing from 33 percent won in the opening set to 47 percent across the match.
“She stepped up on pressure points really well” admitted Pegula. “When she needed to lock in and just not miss a ball, that’s what she did. But that’s vintage Coco. How well she competes and how she makes you beat her no matter the score or the moment I think is her best attribute and why she was a major champion.”
Osaka or Muchova next
“I thought she ended up serving really well the last couple sets”, added Jessica Pegula in her post-match analysis. “I still had a lot of break points, a couple unlucky on some ones I felt like in the second set that definitely could have gone either way. In the first set she gave me a lot of double-faults, but I thought she would eventually serve better. If she does serve well, she serves big and she serves really good.”
“I think I could have returned a bit better. I don’t think I was trusting my return position. I think maybe I was overthinking it a little bit.” She had one tactical regret: “Maybe at the end I should have changed up the pace and sliced a bit more, because I felt like she got onto the pace a bit and started playing much better.”
Gauff, who had dropped only one set all fortnight before Tuesday, will next face the winner of the quarterfinal between Japan’s Naomi Osaka, the No. 14 seed, and Czech No. 10 seed Karolina Muchova.
Wimbledon 2016, women’s singles, quarter finals
N. Osaka [14] vs. K. Muchova [10]
C. Gauff [7] d. J. Pegula [4]: 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
M. Kostyuk [12] vs. J. Paolini [13]
L. Nokosva [9] vs. E. Mertens [25]
