Coco Gauff insists she is 'happy' despite squandering a golden opportunity to reach her first Wimbledon final. The 22-year-old American lost a dramatic 10-point tiebreak against Karolina Muchova, who converted her second match point to win 6-2, 1-6, 7-6. Muchova became the latest Czech woman to reach the final at SW19.
Gauff Reflects on Positive Tournament
Despite the heartache of missing out on Saturday's championship match, Gauff says she is pleased because she had never progressed past the fourth round before this year. Three times she fell at that hurdle, including on her debut in 2019 when she was just 15. '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,' Gauff told journalists. 'A match for sure to remember. It's tough to digest, but I don't know, I'm happy.'
Match Point Decision Under Scrutiny
Gauff was grilled on her missed match point, where she opted for a dropshot that landed in the net. '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,' she said. '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.'
Learning Experience for Two-Time Grand Slam Winner
The two-time Grand Slam winner added: '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. 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.' She also reflected on her progress: 'I think about [how] 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.'
Disagreement with BBC Pundit Tracy Austin
BBC pundit Tracy Austin claimed that Gauff must have changed her mind six times before opting for the dropshot. Gauff made it clear she disagreed with her compatriot, despite admitting she would change her mind if given the chance to replay the point. 'Honestly, I didn't change my mind too much,' Gauff said. '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.'
Looking Ahead
Gauff concluded: '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.'
