LONDON (AP) — There’s not usually a clock ticking down in tennis.
Yet for Coco Gauff at Wimbledon on Sunday, the All England Club's 11 p.m. curfew made it seem like there was.
And Gauff hit the winning shot at the buzzer.
Two minutes before 11, Gauff converted her first match point with a service winner out wide to reach the quarterfinals at the grass-court Grand Slam for the first time.
After beating Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, Gauff tapped her left
wrist with the fingers on her right hand to acknowledge the timely ending. Because if Gauff hadn’t ended it in that game, the match would have been suspended until Monday.
“I was looking at the clock the last service game,” she said. “I was like, ‘I got to hit some big serves and some big shots.’ And honestly, that match point, I was going for a serve and volley because I was like, 'I need to end the point.'
“That was probably the most dramatic finish. I’ve never had to race against time. Playing tennis we’re used to not having a clock. But honestly, today I felt the pressure. … Glad I didn’t choose basketball.”
Gauff had reached the fourth round four times in her Wimbledon career – including during her breakthrough run as a 15-year-old in 2019. Now, for the first time, she’s gone one step further.
“I’m definitely hungry for more. But it’s a great accomplishment,” Gauff said.
Gauff’s quarterfinal opponent will be fellow American and occasional doubles partner Jessica Pegula, who beat Iva Jovic — another American — 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
