The headliner of Tuesday's morning session at Wimbledon was the all-American showdown on Centre Court between No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula and No. 7 seed Coco Gauff.
After the No. 4 seed pinched the first set off of the No. 7 seed, Gauff bounced back to take the final two sets going away for a thrilling three-set win (4-6, 6-3, 6-3) to punch her ticket to the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time in her career. It's the second consecutive match Gauff has won after dropping the first set, as she pulled off a similar comeback against No. 11 seed Belinda Bencic in the Round of 16.
Both Pegula and Gauff were looking to make a foray into uncharted territory at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, as neither had ever reached the semifinals at Wimbledon. Pegula took the upper hand early, but the two-time grand slam champion once again showed her grit and determination.
The first set was an all-too-familiar sight for Gauff, whose struggles on serve have been well-documented for quite some time. Gauff got just 59% of her first serves in during the first set, compared to 67% for Pegula, and tossed in 16 unforced errors as she struggled to get her footing early.
It wasn't always pretty for Gauff in the second set either, but she fought off a couple early break points and eventually found a rhythm with her serve to avoid getting broken. Pegula, serving with the match on serve at 3-4, got tight at the wrong time and found herself down triple break point when she tossed in a double fault where she looked incredibly tense. That was the difference in the second set, and as they headed to the third it was clear that momentum had flipped on Centre Court.
The third set followed a similar trend where Gauff was able to find her best in the moments she needed it, while Pegula never got herself back on the front foot. Gauff fended off every little rally from Pegula to hold serve and keep the pressure on the No. 4 seed to respond. Pegula couldn't stand up to that challenge, ultimately get broken twice including the final game of the match to end her run in London.
Gauff seemed to find something in the final two sets, finding more success with her serve and swinging it much more confidently -- particularly in key points. The two Americans weren't separated by much statistically in the match, but the most telling difference was Gauff being a perfect 5-for-5 converting break point chances, while Pegula was 3-for-7 when she had break point. Sometimes matches just come down to timing, and Gauff's ability to produce her best when it was required while Pegula left a bit to be desired in those moments was the difference in who reached their first Wimbledon semifinal.
While Gauff will surely want to avoid falling a set behind in that semifinal against either Naomi Osaka or Karolina muchova, after back-to-back comebacks to get to that point, she has proven once again that she won't beat herself even when things aren't going her way early. Her serve and forehand still don't look as solid as she would want them to be, but she has a variability to her game that is difficult to play against and her defense and knack for digging out key points continues to shine.
