Coco Gauff reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time after defeating fellow American and former doubles partner Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in a Centre Court clash on Tuesday. The 22-year-old seventh seed and two-time Grand Slam winner is now the highest ranked player remaining in the women's singles draw.
Gauff fought back from a set down after a shaky start where the fourth-seeded Pegula broke her in the opening game. Gauff gained control in the second set, halving her unforced errors to break Pegula 5-3. In the final set, Gauff took an early lead and eventually secured the victory. Gauff described the win as insane, noting that she had not won a match on grass in two years prior to this tournament.
On Court One, Karolina Muchova defeated four-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 7-6(4), 6-4 to set up a semi-final match against Gauff. The 29-year-old Czech tenth seed proved to be the steadier player, recording 21 unforced errors compared to 42 from the 28-year-old, 14th-seeded Osaka, while both players hit 24 winners.
Muchova took the first set tiebreak with a forehand winner on her third set point. Osaka, who had previously beaten top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round, struggled with consistency in the second set, serving two double faults and missing a drive volley to drop her serve. Muchova closed out the set with an ace to reach her first Wimbledon semi-final.