Coco Gauff came within a point of reaching her first Wimbledon final, then watched it slip away in the most brutal way imaginable.
Leading Karolina Muchova 9-8 in the third-set tiebreaker, Gauff had the match on her racket. She landed a strong first serve, set herself up with control of the point, and then went for a drop shot that never had a chance. The ball died in the net, and the moment flipped on its head.
From there, Muchova finished off the tiebreaker 12-10 and claimed the semifinal 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 on Centre Court in a match that had already been swinging wildly before that final miss.
It was a particularly painful ending for Gauff because this was her first run to the Wimbledon semifinals. Before Thursday, her best results at the tournament were three trips to the fourth round.
She did not need the extra touch on that final point. After the serve put her in position, a steadier shot likely would have kept Muchova under pressure. Instead, Gauff’s bid for her first Wimbledon title ended one step short of the final.
Muchova said the momentum shift was almost too fast to process.
"You're up and down in 10 seconds,” Muchova said in her post-match interview. “You have a match point, then match point down.
It's no time to think, but very nerve-wracking. I'm really kind of shaking and trying to sink it in."
Fans watching the finish were stunned that Gauff chose the drop shot in that spot, especially with the match hanging in the balance.
Gauff’s Wimbledon history has had its share of big moments. In 2019, she burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old by beating Venus Williams, one of her heroes, in straight sets in the opening round. That year she reached the fourth round before losing to Simona Halep in straight sets.
This week, Gauff had already taken down fellow American Jessica Pegula in three sets in the quarterfinals. She also had the edge in the head-to-head with Muchova, winning six of their last seven meetings. None of that changed the sting of Thursday’s loss.
Gauff has already won the 2023 U.S. Open and the 2025 French Open, but Wimbledon remains out of reach for now.
Muchova, meanwhile, moved into her first Wimbledon final. The No. 10 seed became the fourth Czech woman in the last six years to reach the championship match at Wimbledon. Thursday was also her first time playing on Centre Court.
She had beaten Naomi Osaka in straight sets in the quarterfinals before edging Gauff in the semifinals. Muchova will face the winner of the Marta Kostyuk-Linda Noskova semifinal, which was still being played on Centre Court.