Coco Gauff was in a magnanimous mood after her gut-wrenching Wimbledon semi-final loss to Karolina Muchova on Centre Court on Thursday.
Prior to this run, the 22-year-old had never gone past the fourth round of the tournament but ended up battling her way to the last four to face off against the Czech.
The American ended up winning 98 points to Muchova‘s 95 but still went down to a 6-2 1-6 7-6 (12-10) defeat, in a contest where she had a match point.
The two-time major winner was leading 9-8 in the championship tiebreak and just when she looked well placed to claim victory, she dumped a meek drop shot into the net.
The 10th seed kept her cool and held on to advance to her first Wimbledon final, where she will face compatriot Linda Noskova in Saturday’s showpiece event. Incidentally, here is every word Gauff said from her post-match press conference.
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What were the positives you can take from playing that well?
“There’s a lot of positives. Obviously got super close. Definitely going to think about the second, third, last point, whatever, but overall I think it was a positive tournament for me. A match for sure to remember. It’s tough to digest, but I don’t know, I’m happy.”
You mentioned that point. What are you thinking about that point at this point?
“I mean, there’s one thing to be, like, why play a dropshot, but then I think how many points I won off the dropshot. Yes, people who don’t watch tennis are going to be like, Why did you do that? At the end of the day, that’s the choice I made. Was it the right one in that moment? Maybe not. But then also, if I make it, everyone’s going to say how clutch of a shot that was. I think that’s just tennis. You lose some points off margins. Honestly, the return came back like in a tricky place for me. The bounce kind of caught me off guard. I just panicked a little bit. I think it just takes moments like this to learn from, have more of a clear, concise plan of what I want to do. At the end of the day, I left it all out there. My only regret… or I don’t have any regrets. I think it’s just obviously points I want to make better decisions on. But that’s how you learn and become a better player.”
You spent a lot of time at the net today, winning a lot of points. You’ve done quite a lot of that this year. Was there an element of deciding that that was a strategy mid-match, or is that something you want as part of your identity on grass, particularly in the future?
“Yeah, I think I should do it more, honestly. I think on grass, it’s obviously a good plan. Maybe I’m not hitting diving volleys like Karolina, but I have decent hands. For the most part, it is something that I want to continue to get better at, every surface, but especially grass. I mean, I don’t know, I think whenever you’re playing someone who gets as many balls back as her, I think it’s, I guess, a tactic, too, to try to end the point a little bit sooner, especially somebody who slices, to take some of the trickiness out of it, yeah.”
You said something the other day that keeps running through my head. It was about your faith, and you believe these stories are written already. I’m struggling with that today. Who would write something like this? Can you talk me through how do you think through what has to be such a painful experience like today?
“I mean, as much painful as it is from the outside, I think about I was down 7-4 in the second round, and I’m here in the semis. I had a point on my racquet at a tournament, I don’t know, I didn’t think it would be this year I would make the semis. It’s not a painful story. I think thousands of people would love to lose the semi-finals at Wimbledon on match point. This is something I wouldn’t love to experience again, for sure no. I think it will make my next moment when I win a match like this even sweeter. I had a match earlier this year, I saved six match points. It’s just one of those days where it didn’t go my way. Somebody had to lose, and unfortunately it was me today.”
The way you played that third set, going for your shots, going to the net, it felt from outside like you unlocked something in your game. Do you think this whole tournament may have been this, you unlocked your game?
“Yeah, I definitely think I’m progressing in the right direction with the serve, with being aggressive. There’s definitely some points I regret maybe being passive like than some of those break points. It’s going to take some time putting myself in these positions to unlearn habits and build new ones. Hate me or love me, you can’t deny the progress that’s been made this tournament. I don’t know, there’s a lot of positives. It gets me excited for the future, for sure.”
You’ve played Karolina eight times now, I think. Is she unique as an opponent?
“Yeah, for sure. I mean, I always said that she’s obviously a successful player, but I think she’s someone that deserves more success of how talented she is. I think that we have the head-to-head that has leaned my way, but it’s not an opponent you want to face at any point of the tournament. I have so much respect for how she plays and how she is off the court. I don’t know. It’s just one of those battles that I’m honoured – not honoured, I don’t want to say honoured to lose. I don’t know. It’s a match I’m going to remember for my career. It sucks to be on the losing end, but even walking off the court, I was like, That was a lot of fun.”
How do you get over a match like this where it’s so close and you have match point? How long does it take you to get over it?
“I mean, I’m going to think about it tonight. Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know if I’ve ever lost a match after having match point. If I did, I don’t remember the last time. I don’t know how long it will take me. I don’t think that long, honestly. I think, yeah, right after I was a lot of emotions right after the match. But now I’m just, like, one decision away, maybe I’m sitting in this press conference in a different mood. I mean, I look at Roger [Federer] lost match points here, Jannik [Sinner] obviously at Roland Garros. Every great champion has this happen in their career. Maybe this is something I need to be on their level.”
You were the only Grand Slam champion left in the draw. Did you feel any extra expectations or pressure going into today’s match?
“No, not at all. No, honestly I didn’t feel like I was the favourite or anything. Obviously I have more experience maybe at these stages than the other people that were left, but at the end of the day, we’re all great athletes and great tennis players. The past is the past. I don’t think it matters that much.”
I wonder whether this run, this is the Grand Slam you previously had done the least good at, has this recalibrated how you think about Wimbledon?
“For sure, I definitely have more faith. I have a lot of things that I can improve. Yeah, I think, like I said earlier this week, that regardless of the result, it’s a breakthrough tournament for me. Needed something like this to have my belief at this tournament. I’m definitely going to come next year with more confidence and hopefully a better player.”
Getting back to the match point, how much decision-making was going into that shot? I think Tracy Austin said on the BBC you must have changed your mind six times.
“Honestly, I didn’t change my mind too much. I think I feel like if I had to do it over, I probably would have gone for a slice forehand down the line. The ball bounce wasn’t really like that high. Don’t know if I would have hit a forehand or not. I don’t know. I have to watch it back honestly to say. Yeah, I mean, it’s tough because it was on my match point, but at the end of the day, if this point happens at 1-All in the tiebreaker, we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about it. But it happened on match point. It’s a learning experience. I know I can do better and improve on that, and going with a higher-margin shot in a pressure moment, for sure.”
The next couple of days, are you the kind of type that shuts down for everything, social media, the TV, or will you be watching the final?
“That’s a good question. Sometimes I watch and sometimes I don’t watch. I don’t know. We’ll see. When I get home, if I’m up, I might have it on. I am one that, like, stings a little bit, especially so close, I don’t want to watch. Also, at the same time, I am a fan of tennis. The girls who are left, I think it’s going to be a great match. Obviously Karolina is great. Whoever she plays in the final is going to be great. Maybe I’ll watch; maybe I won’t. I’ll be online. Probably already got some hate comments and stuff. It’s okay. Just makes you stronger.”
The hate comments you say?
“Betters who lose who are mad and stuff. It’s the usual. It sucks, but it’s like, whatever. I’ll come on the winning end next time and I’ll be sure to tag ’em (smiling).”
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