WIMBLEDON, England - There was a collective inhale from all those at Centre Court on Thursday as Coco Gauff looked to be just mere seconds away from advancing to her first Wimbledon final.
With a 9-8 edge in a roller-coaster tiebreak in the deciding set of her semifinal match against No. 10 seed Karolina Muchova, Gauff, the No. 7 seed, came up to the net to hit a routine forehand volley. There was near silence as she raised her racket -- with the crowd seemingly ready to roar -- and then she hit the ball directly into the net.
A groan filled the air.
The match wasn't over. Not yet anyway. But it was just a few minutes later when Muchova won the ever-so-tight battle of nerves for a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10) victory in two hours and 35 minutes. The two embraced at the net, with both looking stunned by what had just happened.
Gauff then quickly gathered up her rackets and headed for the exit, long before the crowd even had a chance to sit down. While 2026 marked her most successful Wimbledon run to date, and she showed massive signs of improvement on grass throughout the tournament, Gauff acknowledged she will be reliving her match point opportunity for some time -- and wondering what could have been. But as she said multiple times Thursday evening, it could have gone either way.
"People who don't watch tennis are going to be like, 'Why did you do that?' But at the end of the day, that's the choice I made. Was it the right one in that moment? Maybe not," Gauff told reporters. "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. Honestly, the return came back in a tricky place for me. The bounce kind of caught me off guard. I just panicked a little bit. I think it just takes moments like this to learn from, have more of a clear, concise plan of what I want to do. At the end of the day, I left it all out there."
So what exactly went wrong for Gauff in Thursday's thriller? Let's break it down.
She had a tough start
Before this year, Gauff, 22, had never advanced past the fourth round at the All England Club, and she hadn't won a match on grass in two years entering this year's tournament. Despite her past history, something seemed to have clicked for her this fortnight, and she grew increasingly confident with every match she played.
As temperatures soared into the mid-90s in the sweltering afternoon sunshine, Gauff appeared nervous from the start. In the opening set, she was broken in just her second service game and never recovered. Her forehand, something that has been cause for concern at various times throughout her career, was particularly troublesome as she recorded just two winners, compared to seven unforced errors.
While Gauff did her best to stay positive, and her player box still stood and cheered for her even on points in which she lost, she simply had few answers in the first set. It was over in 38 minutes, and she left the court during the set break to regroup.
While she certainly raised her level after the opening set, and found a way to keep it competitive the rest of the match, the early deficit forced her to be in defensive mode for much of the afternoon.
Constantly battling back took its toll
While Gauff has been impressive throughout her run, little has been easy. Thursday marked her fifth consecutive three-setter at the tournament and the third match in a row in which she dropped the opening set. She became just the fourth woman in the Open Era to play in five straight major matches which went to a deciding set, and just the third at Wimbledon.
She has had to fight -- and fight -- for every victory. And while that has become something of an endearing trademark for her -- 24 of her 43 matches this season have gone three -- it is hard to sustain.
Gauff returned after the set break with a more aggressive style and was dominant in the equally lopsided second set. Like Muchova had in the opener, Gauff broke Muchova in the third game of the set -- and then rolled. With the crowd very much on her side, she took the next three games and suddenly it was back to level.
It then looked as if she would do what she had done against No. 11 Belinda Bencic in the fourth round and No. 4 Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals, and remain in control in the deciding set.
But Muchova had other ideas. The two traded service games -- and rallies highlighting the jaw-dropping finesse and athleticism they both possess. It kept the crowd glued to every point. Eventually it all came down to a 10-point tiebreak. Gauff had played in the first major deciding-set tiebreak of her career just last week in the second round and appeared energized to have the same result.
And even when she found herself down 4-1, Gauff managed to keep fighting as she attacked Muchova's backhand and peppered forehand winners. When it was suddenly 6-6, it seemed as if Gauff was ready to put it away -- but she simply couldn't close it out. She had her chance -- although Muchova later said she was convinced she would have gotten to the drop shot had it been successful -- and even won another point after her failed match point. But it was Muchova that earned the victory with her second match point attempt after hitting to the corner, and Gauff 's forehand landing in the net.
Muchova said she just stuck to her game plan in the tiebreak, even when Gauff made it difficult.
"In my head, [I] was just like I have to keep hitting," Muchova said. "I was telling myself if I'm going to lose this, I want to lose on my own terms. My terms [means] going forward, playing aggressive, going to the net.
"Even though Coco, she is an incredible athlete and she always gives you that one point back, I would say, so even though I knew when I hit a volley that she is still going to be there and hit [a] few unreal passing shots throughout the whole match, but it's kind of my game. I just wanted to stick to it."
Muchova was ready
A finalist at the French Open in 2023, and widely considered one of the best in the sport when she's healthy, the 29-year-old Muchova was always going to be a difficult opponent, even if their career head-to-head indicated otherwise. After the match, even Gauff said Muchova "deserves more success [than she has had, because] of how talented she is."
Gauff added she was "honored" to lose the match against an opponent she has so much respect for, before walking that back slightly.
"It's just one of those battles that I'm honored -- not honored, I don't want to say honored to lose. I don't know. It's a match I'm going to remember for my career. It sucks to be on the losing end, but even walking off the court, I was like, 'That was a lot of fun.'"
Gauff had beaten Muchova in six out of their seven previous meetings, including in the 2023 US Open semifinals. With two major titles to her name and substantial experience playing on Centre Court, Gauff might have had the edge but Muchova, who had never played on the court before, came out prepared and ready from the start.
It has been a sensational grass season for Muchova. She won her title on the surface in Bad Homburg last month and brought a nine-match win streak -- the longest of her career -- into Thursday's contest. Beofre the semifinal, she had lost just one set during her run and had largely been dominant in her matches, which included wins over 2024 champion Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth round and four-time major champion Naomi Osaka in the quarterfinals.
Muchova and Gauff had never played on grass before, and Muchova also viewed that as an advantage. "I'm happy we [are] 0-0 on the grass," Muchova said Tuesday. "That's a bit better balance for me there."
And even Gauff knew their head-to-head meant little entering the match.
"[She's] not an opponent you want to face at any point of the tournament," Gauff said.
Gauff will use this experience
While Muchova now readies for her first Wimbledon final against fellow Czech player Linda Noskova, Gauff will head home to Florida to prepare for the hard-court season. Despite the heartbreaking loss, Gauff was overwhelmingly positive after the match -- smiling as she walked into her news conference and even joking around throughout -- and said she wouldn't dwell on it for long.
"I'm going to think about it tonight," Gauff said. "Yeah, I don't know if I've ever lost a match after having match point. If I did, I don't remember the last time. I don't know how long it will take me [to get over]. I don't think that long, honestly. I think, yeah, right after I was a lot of emotions right after the match. But now I'm just like, one decision away, and maybe I'm sitting in this press conference in a different mood."
In fact, Gauff said she might even watch Saturday's championship match and would be happy for whomever won. And, she added, she knew coming so close at Wimbledon, a tournament where she has struggled in the past, would only help her in the long run.
"I mean, I look at Roger [Federer], [he] lost match points here, Jannik [Sinner] obviously at Roland Garros. Every great champion has this happen in their career. Maybe this is something I need to be on their level."