LONDON (AP) — Things haven’t been going well for a while. Coco Gauff Against Emma Navarro on Centre Court, she was not feeling well at all, and kept looking to her guest box for help from her coaches. One of them, Brad Gilbert, stood up and gestured, and they talked to each other, but nothing came of it.
Gauff has yet to progress past the fourth round At WimbledonAnd she was knocked out on the same stage again on Sunday, Navarro 6-4, 6-3 in an all-American contest.
“We had a game plan, and I felt it wasn’t working. I don’t always ask the box for advice, but today was one of those rare moments when I felt I didn’t have a solution,” said Gauff, the reigning US Open champion and No. 2 at the All England Club. “I don’t want to say I didn’t have a solution, because I feel like I’m capable of doing something. Today, mentally, there was a lot going on. I felt I needed more direction.”
This is the latest in a series of top women withdrawing from the Wimbledon lineup this year: No. 1 Iga Swiatek loses on Saturday, No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka withdraws due to shoulder injury before playing the match Last year’s champion, No. 6 Marketa Vondrousova, was defeated In the first round.
Only two of the 10 highest-seeded women remain: 2022 champion Elena Rybakina, who is seeded No. 4, and recent French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini, who is seeded No. 7 and will now face Navarro. Rybakina will play her fourth-round match on Monday, while Paolini advances on Sunday after Madison Keys pulled out because of an injury.
Navarro, seeded 19th, who writes her own notes on her phone to prepare for matches, reached a major quarterfinal for the first time. She showed what kind of tennis she is capable of playing in the second round, when she beat four-time major champion Naomi Osaka.
“I believe it’s possible because it’s happening. I’m starting to think, ‘Why not me? Why not? Why can’t I get to the quarterfinals? Why can’t I advance to Grand Slams?'” said Navarro, 23, who grew up in South Carolina and won the 2021 NCAA championship in her first year at the University of Virginia.
On Sunday, he noted the exchange between Gauff and Gilbert and the player’s growing displeasure with her performance.
“I don’t usually give a lot of energy to the other side of the court. I keep it on my side of the court. (But) I think seeing him frustrated and seeing his box, putting his arms up in the air — it’s definitely a little confidence booster,” Navarro said. “I think that gave me a little momentum and just a little energy that I needed.”
In addition to Gauff’s trophy in New York last September, the 20-year-old from Florida was runner-up at the French Open and reached the semifinals of the Australian Open.
And while her first major success came at the All England Club at the age of 15, when she became the youngest qualifier in the tournament’s history and defeated Venus Williams in the first round on her way to the fourth round, Gauff never bettered that result.
She also exited in the fourth round in her next appearance in 2021, then lost in the third round in 2022 and in the first round a year ago.
On Sunday, Gauff kept making mistakes and eventually made more than twice as many unforced errors, 25, as she did as the winner, 12. Her biggest problem was the shot that her opponents knew was Gauff’s weakness: the forehand.
Navarro kept hitting that side and it worked.
“I really wanted to attack his forehand,” Navarro said afterward.
Gauff made 16 unforced errors on her forehand and another 16 forced errors, allowing Navarro to win 32 of her 61 total points.
“When players play well I have the ability to raise my level, and I feel like I didn’t do that today,” Gauff said.
He said that when he had asked his coaches for help mid-match in the past, “they usually gave me some”, but added: “I don’t think we were all unanimous.”
“There’s nobody else to blame but me. I mean, I’m the player,” Gauff said.
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