Cori “Coco” Gauff’s magical Wimbledon run has come to an end. The 15-year-old sensation who won three impressive matches at the All England Club — and captured the nation’s attention in doing so — succumbed to a No. 7-seeded Simona Halep in a straight set loss 6-3, 6-3.
The Romanian Halep, 27, looked like the far more experienced player in this match, and Gauff looked the part of a teenager — finally. Despite showing flashes, Gauff couldn’t find her forehand like she did in previous matches.
Gauff became the crowd favorite at this year’s Wimbledon. She took down Venus Williams in straight sets in the first round and then also beat Magdalena Rybarikova in second round in straight sets. Her antics in last week’s third round Wimbledon match drew the most attention; She came back to defeat Polona Hercog after losing the first set and trailing 5-2 in the second.
Gauff became the youngest tennis player to win a match at Wimbledon since Jennifer Capriati in 1991. She previously won the junior French Open title at 14 and had to earn her ticket to Wimbledon by knocking out No. 1 seed Aliona Bolsova in qualifying rounds.
