After being passive and stiff for one set and a half and her opponent’s solid game, Cori “Coco” Gauff found herself on the brink of defeat, but the promising 15-year-old survived two match points by Polona Hercog in the second set and prevailed in the tense decider to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon on her main-draw debut.
Having reached the third round without dropping a set in five matches (three in qualifying rounds, then in the first round against Venus Williams and in the second round against Magdalena Rybarikova), the 313th-ranked Gauff barely showed a fraction of speed, preciseness and aggressiveness that brought her to the third round, until the very solid Hercog was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set.