London (AFP) – Coco Gauff clinched a dramatic late-night victory over Belinda Bencic on Sunday to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time in her career.
Issued on: 06/07/2026 - 00:08
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Coco Gauff reached the quarter-finals for the first time © Henry Nicholls / AFP
The two-time Grand Slam champion, who reached the fourth round as a 15-year-old in 2019, finally made the last eight in her seventh appearance at the All England Club with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.Gauff will face fourth seed Jessica Pegula in an all-American quarter-final on Tuesday."Super happy to be in the quarters finally, I was looking at the clock the last service game," said the seventh seed after a match which finished at 10:58 pm local time, just before the 11:00 pm curfew."That match point I was going for a serve and volley... I think that's the first time I've had to race against time."In tennis, we're not used to it and I'm glad I didn't choose basketball."
