Coco Gauff defeated Jessica Pegula, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, to reach her first Wimbledon semi-final.
The American hadn’t won a grass-court match in over 700 days before the tournament began, but is now just two wins away from a maiden Wimbledon title.
Gauff has won four consecutive three-set matches to reach the semis, refusing to be beaten on what has historically been her weakest surface.
Give us your one crazy prediction for the second week of Wimbledon!
During her latest post-match press conference, Gauff was asked if she had taken inspiration from Iga Swiatek, who made a similar breakthrough on grass 12 months ago before winning Wimbledon.
Coco Gauff admits seeing Iga Swiatek win Wimbledon last year has given her belief in 2026
“Yeah, I think I spoke about this at the start of the tournament, that definitely seeing her win gave me more belief, because we do have similar game styles, especially on the forehand wing,” said Gauff.
“It definitely gave me more belief.”
Before 2025, Swiatek hadn’t been past the quarter-finals at the All England Club.
But having reached the Bad Homburg Open final the week prior, Swiatek carried that momentum forward, winning Wimbledon.
Iga Swiatek’s Wimbledon record
- 2019 – Lost in 1R to Viktorija Golubic, 2-6, 6-7
- 2021 – Lost in 4R to Ons Jabeur, 7-5, 1-6, 1-6
- 2022 – Lost in 3R to Alize Cornet, 4-6, 2-6
- 2023 – Lost in QF to Elina Svitolina, 5-7, 7-6, 2-6
- 2024 – Lost in 3R to Yulia Putintseva, 6-3, 1-6, 2-6
- 2025 – Champion
- 2026 – Lost in 3R to Alex Eala, 6-7, 2-6
Gauff is now four victorious sets away from following in Swiatek’s footsteps, turning her Wimbledon fortunes around in spectacular fashion.
Coco Gauff’s Wimbledon record
- 2019 – Lost in 4R to Simona Halep, 3-6, 3-6
- 2021 – Lost in 4R to Angelique Kerber, 4-6, 4-6
- 2022 – Lost in 3R to Amanda Anisimova, 7-6, 2-6, 1-6
- 2023 – Lost in 1R to Sofia Kenin, 4-6, 6-4, 2-6
- 2024 – Lost in 4R to Emma Navarro, 4-6, 3-6
- 2025 – Lost in 1R to Dayana Yastremska, 6-7, 1-6
- 2026 – Semi-finals*
To do so, she will need to beat Karolina Muchova in the semi-finals and Linda Noskova, Elise Mertens, Jasmine Paolini, or Marta Kostyuk in the final.
The good news for Gauff is that she has a dominant head-to-head record against her semi-final opponent.
Gauff leads Muchova 6-1 in their head-to-head, although she did lose their most recent encounter in Stuttgart earlier this year.
Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova’s head-to-head record (6-1)
| Match | Winner | Loser | Score |
| 2026 Stuttgart Open – QF | Karolina Muchova | Coco Gauff | 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 |
| 2026 Miami Open – SF | Coco Gauff | Karolina Muchova | 6-1, 6-1 |
| 2026 Australian Open – 4R | Coco Gauff | Karolina Muchova | 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 |
| 2025 United Cup – RR | Coco Gauff | Karolina Muchova | 6-1, 6-4 |
| 2024 China Open – F | Coco Gauff | Karolina Muchova | 6-1, 6-3 |
| 2023 US Open – SF | Coco Gauff | Karolina Muchova | 6-4, 7-5 |
| 2023 Cincinnati Open – F | Coco Gauff | Karolina Muchova | 6-3, 6-4 |
Assuming she bounces back with a win in their Wimbledon semi-final, who would Gauff rather play in the final?
Coco Gauff’s H2H records vs potential Wimbledon final opponents
- 2-1 vs Linda Noskova
- 3-2 vs Marta Kostyuk
- 4-3 vs Jasmine Paolini
- 5-0 vs Elise Mertens
If she could pick, Gauff would likely choose to meet Belgium’s Mertens in the final.
Gauff has won all five matches she’s played against Mertens.
She leads the head-to-head against her other three potential final opponents, but has suffered defeats against Noskova, Kostyuk, and Paolini.
There is no use in Gauff worrying about the final now, though, as she has a tricky semi-final match to get through first.
Gauff will play Muchova in the Wimbledon semi-finals on Thursday, July 9.
Coco Gauff says if she’s noticed the grass change at Wimbledon since she made her debut
The two-time Grand Slam champion also commented on the grass at Wimbledon and if she’d noticed it had changed since her debut in 2019.
“As far as the grass changing, it definitely for sure has changed over the course of tennis, over the last 15, 20 years. Do I think it’s changed since I’ve been playing Wimbledon? I don’t know if I’m actually that smart a person to be able to tell you if I played that many matches, so I don’t know,” said Gauff.
“I definitely think maybe when it was faster, I don’t know, 10, 15 years ago, it would probably be even harder.
“As far as, like, from 2019 to now, I don’t know if it’s that much different. I think you would have to ask somebody with more experience than me!”
