LONDON (AP) 鈥� There鈥檚 no panic in Coco Gauff.
Down a set after untimely double-faults, Gauff rallied past Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday to reach the semifinals for the first time.
The two-time major champion raised her arms in the air after Pegula sent a weak backhand into the net on the first match point in an all-American quarterfinal on Centre Court.
鈥淚鈥檝e been going three sets almost every match. I feel like when you have that faith in yourself as a competitor, when the match goes a distance, you know when you lose one set, you鈥檙e not panicking,鈥� Gauff said in an on-court interview.
With the victory, the 22-year-old Gauff became the youngest player to reach the semifinals at all four Grand Slams since , who completed the feat at the 2007 French Open, the women’s professional tennis tour said.
Gauff will face 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic for a spot in Saturday鈥檚 final. Muchova, , eliminated 7-6 (4), 6-4 on No. 1 Court.
In Gauff’s six previous appearances at the All England Club, she had never gotten past the fourth round. But perhaps experience at the grass-court major is starting to pay off.
鈥淚 think after seven years playing this tournament it鈥檚 finally the first time I can walk on Centre Court and I didn鈥檛 feel nervous,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檓 becoming a vet.鈥�
The 鈥渧et鈥� was undone by early double-faults, though, putting herself in a hole to start the match. She led 40-0 right away but lost the next five points 鈥� including two on double-faults 鈥� to go down 1-0. After breaking Pegula in the sixth game, Gauff was immediately broken to love with two more double-faults.
Gauff called the last two sets 鈥渞eally great tennis.鈥�
鈥淛ess’ ball is so flat and low. So I think I just needed to address that … be in there in the rallies and just play the tennis that I wanted to play. And I think I started to land more first serves in the court,鈥� said Gauff, who cranked up one serve to 126 mph in the third game of the second set. 鈥淪o I think that also helped and just trusting my shots.鈥�
Sinner beats Struff
On No. 1 Court, defending champion Jannik Sinner kept his title defense on track by beating Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to advance to the semifinals.
The top-ranked Sinner continues to put his French Open meltdown behind him. He to get past 50th-ranked Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round, but since then they’ve been straight-set victories, allowing the 24-year-old Italian to avoid marathon sessions.
Sinner will next face either seven-time Wimbledon singles champion Novak Djokovic or third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime. The men’s final is on Sunday.
In the completion of a fourth-round match, second-seeded Alexander Zverez beat Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (6) to set up a quarterfinal Wednesday against sixth-seeded Taylor Fritz.
Heating up at Wimbledon
Under a sunny sky, the early afternoon matches started with the temperature at 29 Celsius degrees (84 Fahrenheit) and expected to rise to 31 C (88 F).
Sinner, who lost in the second round at the French Open amid a , used an ice towel around his neck on changeovers.
Early in her match, Gauff asked the chair umpire: 鈥淒o you guys have an ice pack?鈥� The American dabbed what appeared to be a blue ice pack to her cheeks and top of her thighs.
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AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf contributed to this report.
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