Coco Gauff is one of the world’s very best players, and yet boasts an unpredictability which makes her incredibly difficult to regularly praise.
After all, just when it looks like she might be building momentum or solving her greatest issues, another outlandishly poor performance will sprout from seemingly nowhere, indicating just how far she still is from the very top.
And yet, despite all this adversity, the 21-year-old is undeniable, and can never be discounted as a threat for Grand Slam titles.
Few would have given her a chance to win Roland Garros last year, and at the US Open, it seemed impossible that a 19-year-old American with just one major quarter-final to her name would claim her maiden title on home soil.
Coco Gauff has made a career out of proving people wrong, with Andy Roddick the latest to admit his error in backing against her.
Andy Roddick reacts after Coco Gauff beats Jessica Pegula at Wimbledon
Speaking on his Served with Andy Roddick podcast after her win over Jessica Pegula, he admitted: “I thought Jess was the favourite in that match based on head-to-head matchup, based on preference of surface; she was the highest ranked player left in the draw.”
Gauff tried to explain why she’s thriving at Wimbledon this year, but failed to settle on a concrete answer. In all honesty, most pundits are struggling to find one too, which is what makes her story that much more compelling.
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Roddick then went on to praise the youngster, adding: “Coco is a gamer. I don’t know if I have seen a top player play up and down to their competition as much as she does.
“But she does not take any plays off. None. Everyone talks about Rafa always playing every point. Coco is that person. She does not take plays off.
“She could be playing terribly and she does not take points off for a second. To go out and beat Jess, who has historically not been a great matchup for her, on a surface which has historically not been a great surface for her, the way that she did [was impressive].”
He then provided a great insight into that quarter-final win, before looking ahead to Gauff’s semi-final match against Karolina Muchova.
Roddick claimed: “Forehand was an issue, so she was taking big swings to bigger parts of the court; her footwork is getting better on grass, she is starting to find her footing. She is getting better in real time. It’s amazing. She is knocking down that forehand and charging forward sometimes, which is valuable, even if she gets passed because the person has to think about the threat of what she is doing.
“It’s amazingly fun to see. She has a good record against Muchova. She has got to think that she can win this tournament.”
Gauff boasts a 6-1 winning record against Muchova, although she lost their most recent meeting.
How Coco Gauff beat Pegula to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals
After the first set, it really felt like there would be only one winner.
Pegula had strolled into a commanding 6-4 lead, with the youngster providing little threat or pushback against her flat, powerful groundstrokes.
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However, the 32-year-old’s inability to continue this form into the second set provided Gauff with a lifeline, which she gladly took to level the score.
The key statistic which tells the story of the match was the break points converted.
Pegula, despite bringing about more opportunities (7), only converted three. Meanwhile, Gauff won all five of the break point chances she conjured.
She will now contest a first Wimbledon semi-final of her career.
