Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Entertainment
EntertainmentSports

‘Thousands of People Would Love to Lose In Semifinals’: Coco Gauff Shocks With Positive Outlook After Wimbledon Exit

Posted byBy Jordan James | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

Coco Gauff was favored to reach her first Wimbledon championship match, but Karolina Muchova had other ideas in Thursday’s semifinal.

Gauff and Muchova faced off in the first of two Wimbledon semifinal matchups scheduled for Thursday. Muchova won the first set 6-2 before Gauff responded with a 6-1 win in the second set.

That set up the decisive third set, which Muchova won 7-6 after a 12-10 tiebreak to advance to the Wimbledon finals. Gauff had match point at 9-8 in the tiebreak set, but Muchova fought back to complete the win.

Left:  Karolina Muchova (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) Right: Coco Gauff (Shi Tang/Getty Images)

Gauff, at No. 7, was the highest remaining seed left in the women’s bracket at Wimbledon entering the semifinal round. Muchova is the 10-seed in the tournament, while No. 12 Marta Kostyuk and No. 9 Linda Noskova met in the other semifinal match.

In her six Wimbledon appearances prior to this year, the 22-year-old Gauff failed to make it further than the Round of 16. That changed with the Gauff’s quarterfinal victory over Jessica Pegula, Gauff’s ex-doubles partner, on July 7 to reach her first semifinal at Wimbledon.

“It’s not a painful story,” Gauff said after losing the semifinal match. “I think thousands of people would love to lose the semifinals of Wimbledon on match point.

“Is it something I’d love to experience again? For sure, no. But it’ll make my next moment when I win a match like this even sweeter.

“It’s just one of those days where it didn’t go my way. Someone had to lose and unfortunately it was me today.”

UN Forced Into Kylian Mbappé Racism Firestorm After Paraguayan Senator Claims He Was Raised by ‘Chimpanzees’ — Then She Demands He Apologize

USA Soccer Fans Blame ‘Trump Curse’ for World Cup Loss to Belgium

Muchova, 30, defeated Naomi Osaka in the quarterfinal round to earn the matchup against Gauff in the semifinals on Thursday. She has battled numerous injuries during her tennis career.

“I’m happy that now I’m, like, selling my game and that I can use it,” Muchova said entering the semifinal round. “I’m definitely appreciating more the time that I’m here, that I can play, that I don’t have these big issues that I had in the past. I’m enjoying the moment that I’m here.”

Muchova will face Noskova in the women’s Wimbledon final on July 11.

Still independent.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top