Coco Gauff’s Wimbledon run took another major step on Tuesday, when she beat Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Centre Court to reach her first Wimbledon semifinal. For a player who arrived at the tournament without a grass-court win in two years, it was a striking turnaround — and one that made her earlier doubts sound even bigger in hindsight.
Two weeks before the match, Gauff said the idea of reaching the Wimbledon semifinals felt close to impossible. After the win, she admitted in a news conference that she would have called it funny if someone had told her she would be in the final four at the All England Club. Her reaction captured just how unexpected this has been, especially after she lost her opening match at the Berlin Tennis Open before coming to London.
How Gauff turned the match around
Gauff dropped the first set against Pegula, but she settled in over the next two sets and made the match more physical and more uncomfortable for her opponent. The article notes that Gauff adapted to the grass over three matches before getting past Pegula, and that adjustment showed up in the scoreline. Once she found her footing, she took control of the rhythm and won the final two sets 6-3, 6-3.
That matters because grass had not been a friendly surface for Gauff lately. She arrived at Wimbledon without a grass-court win in two years, so simply getting through the first week was already a notable shift. Now she has a fifth consecutive win on grass, and the confidence from that kind of run can change the tone of a tournament very quickly.
Why the result stands out
Pegula brought a different challenge. She had a history of winning on faster, slicker grass in Europe, and she also made clear after the match that Gauff’s serve can be difficult to read. Pegula said Gauff can serve really well, but also sometimes throws in double faults, which makes it hard to know what is coming next.
That uncertainty has become part of the challenge of facing Gauff. When she is landing first serves and defending well, she can make a match feel unstable for the other player. On Tuesday, that combination was enough to turn a one-set deficit into a breakthrough win and send her into her first Wimbledon semifinal.
For Gauff, the bigger story is not just the result, but the setting. Wimbledon has long been the stage where players are judged most closely, and a run like this changes how quickly expectations can shift. What felt nearly impossible two weeks ago is now reality.
