Coco Gauff had Saturday off, however the U.S. tennis star was arguably the day’s greatest winner.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek was shocked in a third-round loss to unseeded Yulia Putintseva, clearing a walkway for Gauff to win her second grand slam.
Swiatek has been the largest thorn in Gauff’s aspect on the ladies’s tour. In 12 profession conferences, Swiatek leads 11-1, together with wins on the final three French Opens.
Gauff downed Britain’s Sonay Kartal 6-4, 6-0 on Friday and watched Swiatek fall to Kazakhstan’s Putintseva 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 a day later.
Putintseva gained her match regardless of Swiatek hitting 34 winners to her 19. Putintseva made up for that discrepancy by solely committing 15 unforced errors versus 38 by Swiatek.
In her breezy Friday two-setter, Gauff had 16 winners and solely 15 unforced errors whereas successful 26 of her 29 first-serve factors (90 %).
Gauff, the world’s No. 2-ranked participant, faces fellow American Emma Navarro subsequent. Navarro got here again from one set all the way down to defeat Diana Shnaider for the primary time in three tries on Friday to arrange the all-American affair in Wimbledon’s fourth spherical.
Gauff and Navarro have met as soon as beforehand with Gauff successful in straight units, 6-3, 6-1, within the 2024 Auckland semis.
The 2023 U.S. Open winner’s monitor to the Wimbledon finals additionally features a potential quarterfinal match between Jasmine Paolini or Madison Keys, whereas Emily Raducanu leads the checklist of potential semifinal challengers.
Gauff has the least expertise on grass-court surfaces, with solely 30 profession matches. She’s 21-9 all-time. Final yr, Gauff was upset by Sofia Kenin within the first spherical at Wimbledon.
Gauff’s earlier finest end on the occasion was the fourth spherical (2021), which she will advance previous with a win over Navarro on Monday.
With Swiatek now not looming as a frightening roadblock, Gauff’s path to her first Wimbledon championship would possibly already be paved.
