By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday July 8, 2019
The dream run of Coco Gauff has ended right where it started—on Wimbledon’s No.1 Court, which was the scene of Gauff’s first two victories during these Championships.
Halep outhit and outran the 15-year-old with an inspired effort to claim a 6-3 6-3 victory and a spot in Wimbledon’s last eight for the third time in the last four years and the fourth time overall.
The Romanian broke serve five times on 12 opportunities and struck 17 winners against 14 unforced errors to complete her victory in 75 minutes.
Gauff showed signs of the explosive talent that the world has only just begun to become aware of but she was forced to go for too much too often against the veteran Halep, and finished with just 15 winners against 29 unforced errors. Gauff didn’t register an ace and only managed to win 21 of 40 first-serve points—she had won at least 67 percent of such points in each of her first three matches.
Halep moves on to face China’s Zhang Shuai in the quarter-finals.
Gauff has a lot to be proud of for her effort. She became the youngest player to reach the second week at Wimbledon since 1991, and the youngest player to ever qualify for the main draw at Wimbledon in the Open Era.
She won’t turn 16 until next March.
More to follow.