Coco Gauff’s historic Wimbledon run came to an end on Wednesday, July 9, when No. 10 Karolina Muchova ended her debut semifinal appearance at the All England Club with a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(10) victory in 2 hours and 35 minutes on Centre Court.
Gauff, seeded No. 7, had come in 6-1 all-time against the Czech player. She dropped the first set, dominated the second, and pushed the match to a deciding tiebreak before coming agonizingly close to closing it out. Serving at 9-8 in the tiebreak with a match point, Gauff tried a forehand drop shot and hit it into the net, then smiled. Muchova, who improved to 29-0 this year when winning the opening set, eventually closed it out 11-10 with a two-handed backhand winner.
“It was such a big fight. It was a rollercoaster,” Muchova said on court. “In 10 seconds you have match point and you’re match point down. No time to think.” According to Forbes, Gauff had 10 wins this year when dropping the first set, but she could not make it 11. She made 12 unforced errors against 7 winners in the first set and was 0 for 5 on break chances.
TheGrio previously covered Gauff’s quarterfinal win over fellow American Jessica Pegula on July 7, where she became the youngest woman since 2007 to reach the final four at all four Grand Slam tournaments. TheGrio also featured Gauff in its roundup of Black tennis players to watch at Wimbledon this year, entering the tournament as the No. 7 seed fresh off her French Open title.
Muchova will face No. 9 Linda Noskova in an all-Czech final on Saturday, after Noskova defeated No. 12 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-4, 6-4 in the other semifinal. Muchova is into her second Grand Slam final after losing the 2023 French Open final to Iga Swiatek. Noskova is into her first.
Wimbledon remains the one major where Gauff has struggled to find her best tennis. She was eliminated in the first round last year by Dayana Yastremska after winning the French Open. Wednesday’s result is her best finish at the All England Club, but the loss leaves her still searching for a title on grass.
