LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 07: Coco Gauff of United States leaves Centre Court following defea against … [+]
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Sunday was a huge day for Americans at Wimbledon — and some of the biggest names were bounced out of the tournament while others advanced to the second week.
Coco Gauff, the highest remaining women’s seed entering the round of 16, was taken out by No. 19 Emma Navarro, 6-4, 6-3, in stunning fashion in 74 minutes on Centre Court. Navarro will meet Roland Garros runner-up and No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinals. Navarro holds a 3-0 lead on the Italian.
“Whoever wins this match becomes the favorite,” 18-time Grand Slam champion Chrissie Evert said on ESPN during the Gauff match.
Navarro, a 23-year-old who was born in New York City and who won the NCAA singles championship as a freshman at Virginia in 2021, advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, while Gauff has still never reached the Wimbledon quarters. Navarro previously took out four-time major champion Naomi Osaka, 6-4, 6-1, in the second round on Centre Court.
“I think I played really aggressively,” Navarro said. “Coco’s obviously a really amazing player, I have a ton of respect for her and what she’s done at such a young age is really amazing.
“And I knew she wasn’t going to make it easy on me tonight, but I wanted to play aggressively and push back against her game and I think I was able to do that.”
Navarro continually attacked Gauff’s weaker wing, the forehand, and the U.S. Open champion had no answer for Navarro’s steady, aggressive play from the baseline. On set point in the first set, Navarro fought off a tough serve from Gauff and then cracked a forehand winner down the line.
Navarro broke for a 3-1 lead in the second set when a frustrated Gauff sailed a forehand wide. Gauff appeared frustrated and distraught and constantly looked toward her box and coach Brad Gilbert, at one point saying, “Tell me something. You guys don’t say anything.”Gilbert later told Gauff to go backhand-to-backhand more and to use more shape on her shots, but Gauff was not able to think clearly enough to execute the plan.
The match ended when Gauff hit a forehand into the net, and the two young Americans soon embraced at net.
Gauff said fans of the game are disrespectful when it comes to lower ranked players, and that she didn’t feel extra pressure as the highest remaining women’s seed.
“Not really,” she said.” Because I’ve seen and played so many slams where anybody can win. And the seed is just a number. It’s just an advantage so you don’t play another seed first round. It doesn’t mean you can’t lose. We’ve seen how a lot of seeds drop out. We’ve seen defending champions drop out. It means nothing. I think especially on my side of the draw.. even though the players might not be as known they’re still talented. I think that’s something that people… fans of the game are a little bit disrespectful when it comes to other players on tour. Maybe the ranking isn’t there. But the level is there. And they’re here for a reason. They deserve their spot.
“There’s no easy draw. There’s no cake walk or anything. This is competitive sport. We all want to win. I’ve been there when I was ranked whatever or unknown. It would be disrespectful for another player to be like ‘Yeah this girl is ranked whatever and she’s this age.. I should be able to win.’ That’s not the case. I don’t take my seed into account when it comes to anything. I take every match with a very competitive mindset regardless of the ranking or the person I’m playing against.”
Entering the match, Evert had said Gauff was “ready to win Wimbledon,” especially after No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek was upset and No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka withdrew with injury before the tournament.
“She has gradually improved her game,” Evert said of Gauff before the match. “She has better and better results. I think mentally she’s really prepared to be a champion. Maybe No. 1 one day and she will deal with it very humbly.”
American No. 11 Danielle Collins faces No. 31 Barbora Krejčíková in the fourth round on Monday. If Collins wins, the University of Virginia would have two of the final eight women in the field.
Gauff wasn’t the only American woman to exit on Sunday. No. 12 Madison Keys was forced to retire at 5-all in the third set against Paolini with a leg injury.
The winner of the Navarro-Paolini quarterfinal will face either Lulu Sun of New Zealand or Donna Vekic of Croatia. Sun became the first Kiwi woman to reach the Wimbledon quarters after she took out former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu in three sets, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
Raducanu had stirred some controversy before the match by withdrawing from the mixed doubles where she was slated to play with Andy Murray. The move meant that Murray would be unable to play at least one more match at Wimbledon ahead of his looming retirement.
“I have to prioritize myself, my singles and my body,” Raducanu said.
“I think it was the right decision.”
On the men’s side, No. 12 Tommy Paul advanced to a quarterfinal showdown with defending champion and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz with a 6-2, 7-6(2), 6-2 win over Roberto Bautista Agut.
Paul is 2-2 against Alcaraz, who needed four sets to beat No. 16 Ugo Humbert of France.
Paul has won nine straight on grass after capturing the Queen’s Club title coming in. Can he make it 10 in a row?
“That would be really nice,” he said. “I wouldn’t be mad about that at all. It’s definitely gonna be a tough match. He’s the defending champ. He plays amazing on grass. But I feel like I’m playing pretty good right now too.”
After winning three straight five-setters, No. 14 Ben Shelton was overwhelmed by No. 1 Jannik Sinner, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(9). Sinner advanced to face No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, who advanced when No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov retired with a knee injury.
No. 13 Taylor Fritz will face No. 4 Alexander Zverev in the fourth round on Monday.
“I feel that Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz have the better chance of advancing deeper in this event this year [than Shelton],” seven-time major singles champ John McEnroe said before Shelton lost.
“Watch out for Ben Shelton in the next couple of years. He’s already been a quarterfinalist at the Australian a, semifinalist last year at the U.S. Open. I think he’s still trying figure out how best to utilize his skills on this surface… I don’t think he’s too far away [from breaking into the Top 10].”
