Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- A former teen sensation returns to Wimbledon seeking to rewrite her history on grass after years of frustration.
- This year she has already beaten two top opponents from losing positions, signaling a new confidence and tactical maturity.
- A semifinal match now stands between her and a chance to achieve a career grand slam before turning 25.
In 2019, a little-known 15-year-old named Coco Gauff shocked the tennis world by toppling one of her idols, Venus Williams, in her Wimbledon debut. She eventually made it all the way to the round of 16, and it felt a new star had been born, one who would enjoy plenty of deep runs in London over the course of her career.
Seven years later, Gauff had still yet to even reach the quarterfinals at the All England Club. The surface that first made her a household name had slowly morphed into a house of horrors, the demon she couldn't exorcise no matter how hard she tried — Gauff entered this year's Wimbledon having not won a single grass-court match in two years, an unthinkable stretch for a player of her talent.
From the very start, though, 2026 felt different. Gauff got the monkey off her back with an easy first-round win, 6-2, 6-1. And despite dropping the first set against both No. 11 Belinda Bencic in the round of 16 and No. 4 Jessica Pegula in the quarters — spots in which she would have collapsed at previous Wimbledon's — she dug deep and earned three-set wins. Now, as she takes on Karolína Muchová in her first-ever Wimbledon semifinal on Thursday morning, she has a chance to rewrite her reputation — and reshape the trajectory of her already-historic career.
Coco Gauff's record at Wimbledon: Grass has been her Kryptonite
"We don't have the best relationship," Gauff told reporters before her Wimbledon run began. And really, that might have been putting it lightly: Despite establishing herself as one of the very best women's players in the world, her grass-court performance stood out as the one hill she simply couldn't climb. Since that memorable run back in 2019, she'd never advanced past the fourth round at Wimbledon, including one-and-done upsets in both 2023 and 2025.
- 2019: Fourth round
- 2020: N/A
- 2021: Fourth round
- 2022: Third round
- 2023: First round
- 2024: Fourth round
- 2025: First round
Compare that to the other three majors, and the difference becomes stark. Gauff has won both the U.S. Open (back in 2023) and the French Open (2025), and her track record on clay and hard courts is noticeably better.
Australian Open | French Open | Wimbledon | U.S. Open | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Best finish | Semifinal | Won | Fourth round | Won |
Total W-L | 20-7 | 29-6 | 11-6 | 20-6 |
Winning pct. | 74% | 83% | 65% | 77% |
Which is what makes her run in London this summer so remarkable. Yes, the draw has broken favorably, with Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Świątek and Elena Rybakina all failing to make it past the fourth round. But Gauff has never had trouble playing down to her competition at this tournament in the past, and both Bencic and Pegula provided stiff tests — tests that she passed with flying colors.
Granted, the questions will continue to dog her on this surface until she's finally hoisting the trophy. But so far, at least, Gauff has conquered not just grass, but her biggest obstacle of all: herself. And if that's no longer in her way, the sky is truly the limit.
What's clicked for Coco Gauff at Wimbledon — and what's on the line
That's not hyperbole, either; just ask Gauff herself. "I definitely think I have the ability to play on [grass]," she told reporters before the tournament began. "I think it’s more about the confidence.”
Gauff's potential has been obvious from pretty much the moment she burst onto the scene. She's the best athlete in women's tennis, with every tool in her toolbox. But grass isn't like any other surface; it can change by the minute, depending on the weather and the wind and the humidity, and requires a level of adaptability that even legends have struggled to master. It also rewards great serving, and Gauff's serve has always had a tendency to blow hot and cold.
Go back and watch that win over Venus Williams in 2019, and what sticks out is her aggression, the ease with which she asserted herself despite playing against a childhood idol and icon of the sport. It's been a long and winding road since, but Gauff has finally managed to get back to that place. She's also remade her grass game a bit, no longer trying to reset points through sheer strength but staying light, shortening her swing and better navigating points through tremendous defense and agility.
And if Gauff now has that in her arsenal, an ability to meet the match where it is? The sky is truly the limit. It's hard to overstate the stakes for her on Thursday morning: Win, and she moves one step closer to the third leg of the career grand slam, all at the age of 22. The only leg left would be the Australian, where she's made two quarters and a semis in the last three years and a title frankly just seems like a matter of time.
Winning Wimbledon would answer the biggest remaining question she faces, at an age at which most are still ascending. Of the seven women to complete the career grand slam in the Open Era — Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Grafi, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova — only Graf, Court and Williams did it before 25. Of course, with a loss, the same old doubts would come creeping back. But regardless of whether she hoists the Venus Rosewater Dish, this tournament has been a huge step forward.
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