‘Absurd’: Tennis scribes in awe as schoolgirl star does it again

Tennis scribes are in awe of 15-year-old Coco Gauff, who backed up a win against Venus Williams by dumping out a Wimbledon semi-finalist.

Teenage tennis freak Cori “Coco” Gauff continues to take the world by storm, winning through to the third round of Wimbledon after defeating a player twice her age.

The 15-year-old American became the youngest player to ever qualify for Wimbledon in the Open era and she didn’t just come here for the strawberries and cream.

Gauff stunned the tennis world by rocking Venus Williams in straight sets on day one at the All England Club and she was unstoppable again against Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova.

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The 30-year-old was a Wimbledon semi-finalist as recently as 2017 but any hopes she had of repeating that effort were dashed on Court No. 1 by the hottest sensation in tennis.

Gauff rolled past Rybarikova 6-3 6-3 but whereas there were tears after beating Williams when she was overwhelmed by toppling a childhood hero, win No. 2 on the famous grass of SW19 was more business-like.

Although thrilled with her win, Gauff wasn’t getting carried away. She said after her round-one triumph she wanted to go on and win the whole grand slam and showing a steely face that reeked of determination, going even deeper is not as far-fetched as it once seemed.

I’m in love with the Coco. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

“I think I played well, especially on the pressure points,” Gauff said afterwards. “She was serving amazing so it was hard to return sometimes.

“There’s so much going on. I’m still shocked I’m still here.”

As Gauff soaked up the crowd’s rapturous applause in London, a BBC commentator said: “It was jaw-droppingly good. At only 15, my word.”

Tennis legend John McEnroe was as impressed by her presence as he was by the young gun’s ground strokes.

“I can’t believe she’s 15, the way she behaves and the way she acts is so mature,” he said.

Yeah, we got that on camera! 😁👍@CocoGauff meets @rogerfederer! pic.twitter.com/ir204b88f2

— WTA (@WTA) July 3, 2019

Gauff has set up a third-round meeting with 2018 Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki, who advanced today courtesy of a 7-6 6-3 win over Veronika Kudermetova.

The American teenager, already the youngest player since 1991 to win a main draw match at Wimbledon, looks capable of going further.

She had tennis scribes scrambling for superlatives.

Cori Gauff produces another startling performance to beat Rybarikova 6-3 6-3 and move into the Wimbledon R3. Absolutely absurd how well she dealt with everything thrown at her.

— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) July 3, 2019

Gauff at #Wimbledon

QR1 d. Bolsova 6-3, 6-4
QR2 d. Ivakhnenko 6-2, 6-3
QR3 d. Minnen 6-1, 6-1

R1 d. V. Williams 6-4, 6-4
R2 d. Rybarikova 6-3, 6-3

15yo.

Ridiculous

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) July 3, 2019

might be time for the WTA to start reevaluating those age restriction rules....

— Ricky Dimon (@Dimonator) July 3, 2019

Coco Gauff through to R3....10 errors in 18 games? looking thoroughly comfortable on grass? and with the occasion?....after already winning three qualifying matches last week? So thoroughly impressive... #Wimbledon

— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) July 3, 2019

NOTABLE RESULTS FROM DAY TWO

— Rising Aussie youngster Alex Popyrin took the first set against 11th seed Daniil Medvedev before falling 6-7 6-1 6-4 6-4

— Eighteen-year-old Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Corentin Moutet of France 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-2 on No. 3 Court to extend his debut appearance at the All England Club. On Monday, he became the first male player born in the 2000s to win a Grand Slam match

— Last year’s men’s finalists moved into the third round at Wimbledon within minutes of each other. Moments after Kevin Anderson converted his second match point against Janko Tipsarevic with an ace on No. 2 Court, Novak Djokovic wrapped up his straight-set win over Denis Kudla on Centre Court. Djokovic defeated Kudla 6-3 6-2 6-2 while Anderson ousted Tipsarevic 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-1 6-4. Djokovic trumped Anderson in the 2018 final for his fourth Wimbledon title and they could face each other in the semifinals of this year’s tournament

— US giant Reilly Opelka stunned Stan Wawrinka in five sets 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 8-6

— Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic was spanked 6-2 6-0 by Victoria Azarenka

— Canada’s Milos Raonic served his way to a 7-6 7-5 7-6 win against Robin Haase

— Women’s third seed Karolina Pliskova crushed Monica Puig 6-0 6-4 while Simona Halep defeated Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-3 4-6 6-2