Wimbledon 2026 Women’s Day 9

Coco Gauff bounced back after dropping the first set to overhaul US compatriot Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday to book her career-first place in the Wimbledon semi-finals. 

The seventh seed upset her No. 4 rival in an hour and three-quarters as Pegula played her second quarter-final here. Should she go on to win the title on Saturday, Gauff would overtake her rival as the top American.

Gauff will play for the semis against Karolina Muchova, who knocked out Naomi Osaka 7-6 (4), 6-4, defeating the Japanese for the second time in 10 days after beating her in the Bad Homburg final.

“I love the grass, and since the season is so short I try to enjoy it as much as I can,” the Czech said. “This is unbelievable, I’m so happy with this win.”

Mucholva finished with back-to-back aces to advance to the final four here for the first time.

“I’ve played three times on this (Court No. 1) and it was 0-3. I’m happy I finally got a win today.”

Gauff called reaching the final four “pretty insane.”

“”I had not won a match in two years on grass before coming to this tournament.  I’m happy with how I played today.

“Jess was playing incredible, she is never easy. I’m just happy to get through this one today.”

Gauff said she set her mind on a comeback after dropping the opening set to the 32-year-old.

“I needed to be in the rallies and play the tennis I want to play. I was rushing a bit in the first set.

“But the last two sets were really great tennis. I have the confidence now to go the distance and not panic.”

Gauff, who first played here in 2019 as a 15-year-old, said she no longer feels nerves walking onto Centre Court. “I don’t know if I’m becoming a vet or what,,,”

Pegula was quick to analyse what went wrong for her.

“She made me feel a little bit uncomfortable. I started off returning really well
and put a lot of pressure on her serve – then it just kind of flipped.

“Maybe I was overthinking it a little bit. Maybe at the end I should have changed up the pace and sliced a bit more.

“There’s just a couple things here and there that you wish you could change, but it doesn’t always mean that it’s going to be a better outcome.”