'You lose some points off margins': Gauff leaves Wimbledon with no regrets

WIMBLEDON -- Coco Gauff stood one point from reaching her first Wimbledon final.

Instead, Karolina Muchova produced one last escape. The Czech saved match point at 9-8 in a breathtaking final-set match tiebreak before prevailing 12-10 to cap what was arguably the best set -- and tiebreak -- of this year's Championships.

That match point, Gauff elected to go with a drop shot, eyeing Muchova out of position on the baseline, but there wasn't enough power to get it over the net. 

"I mean, there's one thing to be, 'Why play a dropshot?' but then I think how many points I won off the drop shot," Gauff said to press Thursday. "Yes, people who don't watch tennis are going to be like, 'Why did you do that?'

"At the end of the day, that's the choice I made. Was it the right one in that moment? Maybe not. But then also, if I make it, everyone's going to say how clutch of a shot that was. I think that's just tennis. You lose some points off margins.

"I don't have any regrets. I think it's just obviously points I want to make better decisions on. But that's how you learn and become a better player."

For Gauff, losing after match point up is rare. In fact, during her professional career on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, it's never happened. During her press conference, Gauff didn't even recall the last time she lost a match point up, which was against Wang Xiyu in the 2018 Wimbledon junior quarterfinals, making the sting of today's defeat more palpable.

In hindsight, Gauff said she would've potentially gone for forehand slice down the line, but even then, she wasn't 100% sure on what was best given the low bounce of Muchova's shot. Muchova said to press that she would've gotten to it anyways despite being on the baseline. 

"If I had to do it over, I probably would have gone for a slice forehand down the line," Gauff said. "The ball bounce wasn't really like that high. Don't know if I would have hit a forehand or not. I don't know. I have to watch it back honestly to say.

"It's tough because it was on my match point, but at the end of the day, if this point happens at 1-All in the tiebreaker, we wouldn't be sitting here talking about it. But it happened on match point. It's a learning experience. I know I can do better and improve on that, and going with a higher-margin shot in a pressure moment."

Still, there's several positives to take away for Gauff, who won her first match on the grass surface in two years, and achieved her best result at the All England Club. The 22-year-old became the seventh active player to reach all four Grand Slam semifinals -- she's the youngest since Maria Sharapova in 2007. Muchova became the eighth active on Tuesday, too. 

"I definitely think I'm progressing in the right direction with the serve, with being aggressive," Gauff said. "Hate me or love me, you can't deny the progress that's been made this tournament. There's a lot of positives. It gets me excited for the future for sure."

Gauff's run to the semifinals was unconventional, though it was fitting she exited in close tiebreak. She was on the brink of elimination in the second round against Solana Sierra, but rallied in the 10-point match tiebreak. In the third round, She edged first-time Grand Slam third-rounder Claire Liu in a decider, and then notched a "buzzer-beater" win over 2025 semifinalist Belinda Bencic two minutes before the 11 p.m. curfew.

In the quarterfinals, she navigated No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula's low, flat-hitting play style for her fourth three-set win of the tournament, mouthing to her box "Oh my God, how?" as she was in disbelief of making it this far. Gauff exceeded her expectations for the tournament, and the two-time Grand Slam champion can take solace in that.

Despite defeat Thursday, the experience of reaching the final four in southwest London -- having not advanced past the fourth round in her past six appearances -- is one that's motivating her at future Wimbledons moving forward. 

"I definitely have more faith," Gauff said. "Like I said earlier this week, that regardless of the result, it's a breakthrough tournament for me. Needed something like this to have my belief at this tournament.

"I'm definitely going to come next year with more confidence and hopefully a better player."