After top-seeded Iga Swiatek was eliminated on Saturday, second-seeded Coco Gauff followed her lead by exiting the women’s singles in three sets on Sunday evening.
The 20-year-old lost 6-4, 6-3 to compatriot Emma Navarro on Centre Court as she again failed to make it past the fourth round at Wimbledon.
This is the only Grand Slam where Gauff, the reigning US Open champion, has failed to reach the last eight. She has reached the fourth round twice before, including in her 2019 debut as a 15-year-old. With Swiatek out of the way, the draw was open, but Gauff lost her chance when Navarro, the 23-year-old New Yorker who knocked out Naomi Osaka in the second round, advanced.
On Tuesday she will face seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini, with a possible target of a semi-final against qualifier Lulu Sun or world number 37 Donna Vekic.
“I’m just very grateful to be here on Centre Court at a tournament with such a great tradition and history. I can’t wait to get back to playing,” Navarro said. “I played aggressively. Coco is a great player and I have a lot of respect for her. I wanted to push her game back and I think I was able to do that.”
Gauff had forced an early break in the first set, but Navarro hit back immediately, with the 19th seed subsequently forcing two set points on Gauff’s serve, taking the second with a flash winner.
In the second set, Navarro again took a break for 3-1. Gauff saved two match points when Navarro served for the set, but fell back to a third, again hitting a forehand into the net.
Italy’s Paolini continued her remarkable run as she reached the quarterfinals for the first time on Sunday when Madison Keys withdrew with an injury in the third set of a gripping encounter on Court No. 1. Keys led 5-2 in the final set and was within two points of victory, but Paolini refused to lie down and the American, who injured her left leg, retired at 6-3, 6-7 (6), 5-5, unable to move, the tears flowing.
“At this moment I feel so bad for her, to end the match like this, it’s bad,” Paolini said. “I think we played a really, really good match, it was really tough, a lot of ups and downs. I feel a little bit happy, but also sad for her, it’s not easy to win like this.
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“It was a rollercoaster. I started really well, I was really focused on the court, but then she played great tennis, she raised her level and it was hard to hit the balls back because they were really fast. I kept telling myself to stay there, you never know in tennis. In the end I know she retired, but I’m here with the win.”
It was a terrible stroke of bad luck for Keys, the 29-year-old American who has suffered a series of injuries throughout her career. The runner-up at the 2017 US Open, has suffered leg, wrist, knee, neck, abdominal, back and shoulder injuries over the years, causing her to miss significant time on tour.
It wasn’t the way Paolini wanted to get through, but the 28-year-old, who had never won a Tour-level match on grass until this year, was rewarded for her perseverance when it looked like Keys was going to run away with it. She had already recovered from a 5-1 deficit in the second set, but lost the set 8-6 in the tiebreak and was on her way back in the deciding set.
The first set was all Paolini, whose speed around the court and surprising power led Keys to make far too many unforced errors, the American firing too early into the rally when she was really in no position to strike. The second set was the other way around, with Keys holding back her errors and choosing her moment to attack wisely. The last time she was a semifinalist in Eastbourne, the 12th seed began to use her weapons, her serve clicking into a groove and her thumping forehand racing past Paolini’s racquet.
It was a close call though, as Keys squandered a 5-1 lead in the second set, Paolini’s resilience being as impressive as her speed. At 5-5, with a break point looming, Keys went ace, ace, forehand winner and as the set went to a tiebreak, she held her nerve to take it 8-6 with a brilliant half-volley.
The third set seemed to be going Keys’ way, as she took a 5-2 lead, but then the problems started. After missing a forehand, which allowed Paolini to get one of the breaks back for 3-5, Keys began to limp, her left thigh giving her trouble. Paolini quickly steadied herself to make it 4-5, and Keys took a medical timeout, off the court. When she came back with heavy strapping, she struggled to push herself up from her leg to serve and could barely take more than a few steps. Her only chance was to try to serve, but it was in vain, a double fault made it 5-5. That was about it. Two points later, with the tears still flowing, Keys gave up.