Coco Gauff had match point, an open court, and a spot in the Wimbledon final hers for the taking.
Then she “panicked” and did the unthinkable – changed her grip for a drop shot forehand and buried it straight into the net.
Coco Gauff bombed a straight-forward forehand on match point in the Wimbledon semi-final. Getty Images
On the world feed, Stephanie Brantz called it “unmissable”.
In a third set 10-point tiebreaker against Karolína Muchová, Gauff was up 9-8 when Muchová was able to put a stack of top-spin on a return straight down the T. The top-spin made the ball bounce higher than Gauff was expecting, and she made a meal of it.
Less than five minutes later she was packing her bags, the Czech having won the match 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (12-10).
“The bounce kind of caught me off guard (and) I just panicked a little bit,” Gauff said later.
The bounce was slow enough that the 22-year-old had enough time to adjust and hit a forehand with a full swing. Instead, she attempted a drop shot and the rest is history.
“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.
She even practised a topspin forehand between points, indicating that she felt she made the wrong choice.
“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,” she said.
“That’s just tennis. You lose some points off margins.”
She’s far from the only player to have bombed match points at crucial moments in grand slams and then lost.
Roger Federer missed two match points in the 2019 final against Novak Djokovic – a marathon five-setter that at 4hrs 57mins became the longest Wimbledon final ever. In last year’s Roland-Garros final, Jannik Sinner blew three against Carlos Alcaraz.
“I’m going to think about it tonight,” Gauff said.
“I look at Roger, Jannik obviously at Roland-Garros, every great champion has this happen in their career. Maybe this is something I need to be on their level.
“I feel like if I had to do it over, I probably would have gone for a slice forehand down the line. It’s a learning experience.
Muchová will play Linda Nosková in an all-Czech women’s final. AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth
“I know I can do better and improve on that, and going with a higher-margin shot in a pressure moment, for sure.”
In the second semi-final, Linda Nosková cruised past Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-4 to set up an all-Czech final.
Friday night’s action at Wimbledon is dominated by the two men’s semi-finals.
Arthur Fery will look to continue his dream run against Alexander Zverev from 10.30pm AEST, which will be followed by what fans will be hoping is another Sinner versus Djokovic epic.