LONDON (AP) — Coco Gauff is no stranger to making the fourth round at Wimbledon. She went that far as a 15-year-old newcomer playing in her first Grand Slam tournament in 2019, and then again on her next appearance in 2021.
She’s never been to the quarterfinals at the All England Club, though, and will get a third crack at it after beating British qualifier Sonay Kartal 6-4, 6-0 in the third round on Friday.
But for someone who played in two Grand Slam finals before turning 20 — winning one of them, at last year’s U.S. Open — just getting to the quarterfinals, even at Wimbledon, isn’t much of a goal.
“I feel like at this point, it feels as if losing in the fourth (round) or the quarterfinals feels the same in a way, just because I do have such big aspirations,” said Gauff, who also reached the semifinals at both the Australian Open and French Open this year. “I feel like it sucks to say this, but once you win, you kind of take it for granted. I try not to, obviously. When you make a lot of quarterfinals in Slams, in general it just makes you want to make it to a semifinal. You make a couple semifinals, you want to make the final.”
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Gauff is one of two former U.S. Open champions who are looking to get past the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time. Emma Raducanu is back into the second week for the first time since her debut as an 18-year-old in 2021, when she had to retire with breathing problems in the second set against Ajla Tomljanovic and later said the moment had “caught up” with her.
After a couple of injury-plagued seasons, the British home favorite is playing some of her best tennis since winning the 2021 U.S. Open title as a qualifier, and beat No. 9-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-2, 6-3 on Centre Court.
