Coco through to Wimbledon semis, Sinner advances

LONDON (AP):
There’s no panic in Coco Gauff.
Down a set after untimely double-faults, Gauff rallied past Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 yesterday to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time.
The two-time major champion raised her arms in the air after Pegula sent a weak backhand into the net on the first match point in an all-American quarterfinal on Centre Court.
“I’ve been going three sets almost every match. I feel like when you have that faith in yourself as a competitor, when the match goes the distance, you know when you lose one set, you’re not panicking,” Gauff said in an on-court interview.
With the victory, the 22-year-old Gauff became the youngest player to reach the semi-finals at all four Grand Slams since Maria Sharapova, who completed the feat at the 2007 French Open, the women’s professional tennis tour said.
Gauff will face 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic for a spot in Saturday’s final. Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up, eliminated Naomi Osaka 7-6 (4), 6-4 on No. 1 Court.
In Gauff’s six previous appearances at the All England Club, she had never got past the fourth round. But perhaps experience at the grass-court major is starting to pay off.
“I think after seven years playing this tournament it’s finally the first time I can walk on Centre Court and I didn’t feel nervous,” she said. “So I don’t know if I’m becoming a vet.”
The “vet” was undone by early double-faults, though, putting herself in a hole to start the match. She led 40-0 right away but lost the next five points – including two on double-faults – to go down 1-0. After breaking Pegula in the sixth game, Gauff was immediately broken to love with two more double-faults.
Gauff called the last two sets “really great tennis”
.”Jess’ ball is so flat and low. So I think I just needed to address that ... be in there in the rallies and just play the tennis that I wanted to play. And I think I started to land more first serves in the court,” said Gauff, who cranked up one serve to 126 mph in the third game of the second set. “So I think that also helped and just trusting my shots.”
Sinner beats Struff
On No. 1 Court, defending champion Jannik Sinner kept his title defence on track by beating Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to advance to the semi-finals.
The top-ranked Sinner continues to put his French Open meltdown behind him. He needed five sets to get past 50th-ranked Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round, but since then, theyhave been straight-set victories, allowing the 24-year-old Italian to avoid marathon sessions.
Sinner will next face either seven-time Wimbledon singles champion Novak Djokovic or third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime. The men’s final is on Sunday.
In the completion of a fourth-round match, second-seeded Alexander Zverez beat Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (6) to set up a quarterfinal today against sixth-seeded Taylor F