Coco Gauff and doubles partner Jessica Pegula advance to Wimbledon quarterfinals after world No. 2 singles player's upset loss
- Gauff and Pegula breezed by the Italian duo of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini
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Coco Gauff's time at Wimbledon isn't over just yet.
The world's second-ranked singles player in the world was bounced from the tournament by fellow America Emma Navarro on Sunday, but was able to advance on the doubles side of the tournament on Monday.
Gauff and partner Jessica Pegula breezed by the Italian duo of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini 6-2 6-4 on Court 3.
The duo now moves on to face top-seeded Su-Wei Hsieh and Elise Mertens in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Gauff was one of several top singles players to be eliminated early in the tournament. Of the 13 women's Grand Slams champions who turned up swinging their rackets, only three remain standing at the end of play on Sunday, with Elena Rybakina the only one who knows what it feels like to hold aloft the Venus Rosewater Dish. (Rybakina advanced on Monday after Russia's Anna Kalinskaya retired due to injury)
Gauff and partner Jessica Pegula breezed by the Italian duo of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini
The other two survivors, Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova are also in the top half of the draw with Rybakina.
That means there will definitely be at least one new Grand Slam finalist come Saturday from the bottom half, where the highest seed left is Jasmine Paolini at seven.
Gauff has been tipped as a Wimbledon champion-in-waiting ever since she caused one of the biggest shocks in Wimbledon history by defeating her childhood idol Venus Williams in the first round of the 2019 tournament when she was still a 15-year-old school student.
That dream will remain unfulfilled for at least another year after the US Open champion was unceremoniously shown the exit by compatriot Emma Navarro on Sunday.
Considering both of the top two seeds are out before the quarterfinals, with world number one Iga Swiatek having fallen by the wayside in the third round, Gauff said that people should not place much emphasis on seedings.
'I've played so many slams where anybody can win. The seed is just a number, just an advantage so you don't play another seed first round. That doesn't mean you can't lose, as we've seen a lot of seeds drop out. We've seen defending champions drop out,' the American told reporters.
Gauff had appealed for advice from her coaches Jean-Christophe Faurel and Brad Gilbert
Second seed Coco Gauff suffered a fourth round exit at Wimbledon for the third time
'Even though the (unseeded) players may not be as known, they're so talented. That's something that fans of the game are a little bit disrespectful when it comes to other players on tour. Maybe their ranking isn't there but the level is there.
'They're here for a reason. They deserve their spot. There's no easy draw. There's no cakewalk or anything. This is a competitive sport and we all want to win.'
Nowhere has that been more evident than at Wimbledon as the last seven editions have been won by seven different players from seven different nations.
Whereas the tournament often featured repeat champions such as Martina Navratilova (nine titles), Steffi Graf (seven), Venus Williams (five), Serena Williams (seven) - memories of such dominance on grass were fading fast.
'When you see seven different champions in the past few years, that just shows there's so much depth in the game I think it's great. I think it makes the sport entertaining,' the 20-year-old said.
'There's no easy matches... it pushes me as a player to want to be better.'
