Coco Gauff will contest the first Wimbledon semi-final of her career tomorrow, and faces a stern test against Karolina Muchova.
Although the head-to-head swings heavily in her favour, it is well known that grass is far from her favourite surface.
Meanwhile, her Czech opponent boasts the necessary trickery and blunt power that could blast her off the court, should Muchova get it right on the day.
Seeking to preview that mouth-watering match-up, both Martina Navratilova and Jim Courier gave their views to Tennis Channel.
And, in the end, the latter explained why she doesn’t give Coco Gauff much of a chance despite her recent win over Jessica Pegula.
Jim Courier and Martina Navratilova preview Coco Gauff’s Wimbledon semi-final
Courier was the first to provide his analysis, focusing on Muchova as he stated: “She’s got that lightness with her. That’s why I love watching her play.
“She’s such an elegant mover out there, and this surface does reward that, and listen, she doesn’t have a great head-to-head against Coco Gauff. She’s lost six matches. She’s just won one, but she’s won the last meeting. That was on the clay in the run-up to Roland Garros this year.
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“So that’s gonna fill her with a little bit more confidence coming in for sure in that one, but, look, if they both played their peak tennis, I’m not so sure that Coco Gauff can beat her on grass.”
Navratilova then chimed in, agreeing: “On grass maybe not.
“I think, because the forehand just rolls up and Muchova… The way she was hitting the ball today, for me, she’s the favourite now. Osaka was, but she did not quite play as well, but it’s because Muchova is a disruptor with those slices and I think she’ll do the same to Coco. She should be pretty confident about it, but it’s all between the ears.”
Gauff has spoken about her remarkable form at Wimbledon this year, which has seemingly come out of nowhere following recent results on grass.
It truly feels impossible to predict how she might perform in her next match, clearly capable of beating anyone if the conditions are right.
Coco Gauff’s run to the 2026 Wimbledon semi-final
Whilst Gauff faces arguably the toughest task left in the competition at the moment, her road to this stage has hardly been any easier.
The two-time Grand Slam champion started her campaign with a routine straight-sets win over Tamara Korpatsch, but since then, has had to battle for every point with gruelling intensity.
She narrowly survived her second-round clash with Solana Sierra by winning a third-set tiebreaker before again winning a three-set affair against Claire Liu.
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Then, Gauff had to come from a set down to defeat the big-hitting Belinda Bencic, before toppling the highest-ranked player left in the draw most recently in Pegula.
Now, only Muchova stands between her and a maiden Wimbledon final.
