Quarterfinals at last! Gauff edges Bencic to break new ground at Wimbledon

Fourth time's the charm! In her fourth appearance in the fourth round at Wimbledon, Coco Gauff broke through to a first-ever quarterfinal with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback over Belinda Bencic.

Gauff was not only 0-3 previously in fourth rounds at Wimbledon -- she was also 0-6 in sets in those matches. And, over the first 50 minutes, that set record extended to 0-7 as she lost a 3-0 lead in the opener on No. 1 Court.

But, by the time 2 hours and 18 minutes was done, Gauff earned her third three-set victory in four rounds at the All England Club thus far -- and sealed victory just two minutes before the 11 p.m. local curfew that would've forced the match's suspension and resumption on Monday.

"I was looking at the clock the last service game," Gauff confessed afterwards. "I was like, ‘I gotta hit some big serves and big shots.’ ... This was probably the most dramatic finish. I’ve never had to race against time. Playing tennis we’re used to not having a clock. But honestly, today I felt the pressure.” 

Bencic and Gauff already made history when they stepped on the court, as the match was the latest-ever start to a tilt on No. 1 Court since it opened. Despite admitting that she was "thinking about [the curfew] the whole match," Gauff said she put in not just her best performance of the tournament, but one of her best grass-court matches ever. After losing control of the first set, Gaullf hit more winners than errors in both the second and third sets, and made early leads stand up. 

"Before the match, they told both of us at 11:00, da-da-da, the whole spiel," she said. "Then ... we started the third set at 10:05. It should be enough to finish this set, but I don't know. Then we had a couple long games. The next thing you know, it's 10:45, and I was like, Oh, my goodness.

"I did not want to come out here tomorrow. I was just trying to get up a break and stay up a break 'cause I was like, I'd rather come out here on serve up a break instead of the other way."

"I thought today I was hitting my forehand a lot better, being aggressive with it at moments," she continued. "Honestly, playing someone like her on grass is not sometimes the best matchup for me. Super flat hitter. The grass just enhances it more. I think it definitely gives me confidence knowing I can. I feel like a lot of the baseline exchanges I was winning. It wasn't all me defending, things like that.

"I feel like today gave me a lot of confidence. Even if I did lose the match, I still think I would have walked away with some confidence. She made the semis here last year. This is a tournament she's pretty comfortable at."

Gauff will face No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula in the final eight as both players bid to reach their first-ever semifinal at the grass-court major.

"She's always a tough opponent for me," Gauff said. "I think she's really consistent and gets a lot of balls back and can also play really aggressive, too. I think it's just going to be another one of those where I just have to be in it from start to finish."