Atlanta native Coco Gauff fails to find new game plan at Wimbledon, loses to Emma Navarro – WABE

Things weren’t going well for Coco Gauff against Emma Navarro on Centre Court, not well at all, and she kept looking into her dressing room to ask her coaches for help. One of them, Brad Gilbert, was standing up and gesturing, and they were talking back and forth, but nothing was happening.

Gauff has yet to advance past the fourth round at Wimbledon, and the Atlanta native was eliminated at that stage again on Sunday, knocked out by Navarro 6-4, 6-3 in an all-American match.

“We had a game plan going in, but I felt like it wasn’t working. I don’t always ask boxers for advice, but today was one of those rare moments where I felt like I didn’t have any solutions,” said Gauff, the reigning U.S. Open champion and No. 2 seed at the All England Club. “I don’t want to say I didn’t have any, because I think I’m capable of finding them. Today, mentally, there was a lot going on. I felt like I wanted more direction.”

Her departure is the latest in a string of high-profile women’s exits from the Wimbledon draw this year: No. 1 Iga Swiatek lost on Saturday, No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka withdrew with a shoulder injury before playing a match and No. 6 Marketa Vondrousova, last year’s champion, was beaten in the first round.

Only two of the top 10 women’s seeds remain in contention: 2022 champion Elena Rybakina, ranked No. 4, and recent French Open finalist Jasmine Paolini, ranked No. 7, who will face Navarro in the next round. Rybakina will play her fourth-round match on Monday, while Paolini advanced on Sunday when Madison Keys stopped playing due to injury.

The 19th-seeded Navarro, who takes notes on her phone to prepare for matches, reached her first major quarterfinal. She showed exactly the kind of tennis she is capable of in the second round, knocking off four-time major champion Naomi Osaka.

“I believe it’s possible as it happens. I’m starting to think, ‘Why not me? Why not? Why can’t I make it to the quarterfinals? Why can’t I go deep in the Grand Slams?’” said Navarro, 23, who grew up in South Carolina and won the 2021 NCAA championship as a freshman at the University of Virginia.

On Sunday, she noticed the interactions between Gauff and Gilbert – and the player’s growing dissatisfaction with his performance.

“I don’t usually give too much energy to the other side of the court. I keep it on my side of the court. (But) I guess seeing her a little frustrated and looking at her box, arms in the air — it’s definitely a little confidence boost,” Navarro said. “I guess it maybe gave me a little boost and just the energy I needed.”

In addition to Gauff’s trophy win in New York last September, the 20-year-old from Florida was a finalist at Roland Garros and reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open.

And although her first big breakthrough came at the All England Club at the age of 15, when she became the youngest qualifier in tournament history and beat Venus Williams in the first round en route to the fourth, Gauff never improved on that result.

She was also eliminated in the fourth round in her next appearance, in 2021, then lost in the third round in 2022 and in the first round a year ago.

On Sunday, Gauff continued to make mistakes, finishing with more than twice as many unforced errors, 25, as winners, 12. Her biggest problem was the shot her opponents know is Gauff’s weakness: the forehand.

Navarro kept hitting that side, and it worked.

“I really wanted to attack his forehand,” Navarro said afterward.

Gauff committed 16 forehand unforced errors and 16 other forced errors, accounting for 32 of the 61 total points won by Navarro.

“I have the ability to step up when players are playing well, and I feel like I didn’t do that today,” Gauff said.

She explained that when she’s asked her coaches for help mid-game in the past, “they’ve usually given me something,” but added, “I don’t think we were all in sync.”

“Nobody’s to blame except me,” Gauff said. “I mean, I’m the player on the field.”

AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis