Coco Gauff serves notice she means business on return to Wimbledon stage
Coco Gauff has served notice she means business when she returns to the Wimbledon stage on which she stole the show as a 15-year old.
Four summers have passed since the American made history as the youngest ever qualifier, going on to beat her idol Venus Williams and reach the second week.
She has not gone past the Round of 16 since but armed with a new coach and a super-charged serve Gauff was last night tipped for SW19 glory.
“If she keeps playing like that she's got a great chance,” said Jodie Burrage, the Briton flattened 6-1 6-1 by the American’s power at Eastbourne yesterday.
“She was chucking down serves at 125 (mph). Like, it's a huge serve. On the grass, there is only so much you can do. Even if I got the ball back, she got a sitter next ball.
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“If she keeps playing like that, with the pace of shot she did today, she's got a good chance for Wimbledon.”
Gauff celebrates reaching fourth round of Wimbledon at age of 15 in 2019 (Steve Reigate)Much has changed since Gauff’s stop-the-world debut at SW19 and she insists she feels better equipped this year to challenge.
“At that time I had no pressure and the world was rooting for me,” she said. “Now I’m ranked higher and I’m older, people are expecting more - and I do too.”
She faces doubles partner and higher seed Jessica Pegula today for a place in the semi-finals without dad, who has flown home to support her brother in a baseball tournament. She also has a new coach in Pere Riba.
Gauff was too strong for Burrage (below), who nonetheless heads to Wimbledon on the back of a decent month (AFP via Getty Images)
(Dave Shopland/REX/Shutterstock)“This is very unfamiliar territory for me,” she said after stringing together 10 successive games to outmuscle Burrage and put the match out of the Surrey star's reach inside an hour.
“Wimbledon is always going to be a special tournament for me considering how I started my career," she added. “I feel a buzz and an excitement and I think I have an opportunity to go further (than before).
"In every slam now I feel like I am a contender, though obviously I haven't got to that step of actually winning one.”
British interest at Eastbourne ended with Harriet Dart losing 6-3 6-4 to Jelena Ostapenko and Liam Broady going down 6-2 6-4 to Sweden’s Mikel Ymer.
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