Gauff stops British qualifier Kartal at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England — Coco Gauff is no stranger to making the fourth round at Wimbledon. She went that far as a 15-year-old newcomer playing in her first Grand Slam tournament in 2019, and then again on her next appearance in 2021.

She’s never been to the quarterfinals at the All England Club, though, and will get a third crack at it after beating British qualifier Sonay Kartal 6-4, 6-0 in the third round on Friday.

But for someone who played in two Grand Slam finals before turning 20 – winning one of them, at last year’s U.S. Open – just getting to the quarterfinals, even at Wimbledon, isn’t much of a goal.

“I feel like at this point, it feels as if losing in the fourth (round) or the quarterfinals feels the same in a way, just because I do have such big aspirations,” said Gauff, who also reached the semifinals at both the Australian Open and French Open this year. “I feel like it sucks to say this, but once you win, you kind of take it for granted. I try not to, obviously. When you make a lot of quarterfinals in Slams, in general it just makes you want to make it to a semifinal. You make a couple semifinals, you want to make the final.”

Gauff has been a crowd favorite at Wimbledon ever since she burst onto the grass by beating Venus Williams in the first round in 2019.

So it was a slightly strange feeling for the American to know that a large section of the crowd would be rooting against her on Friday. That’s because she was going up against Kartal, a British qualifier who had exceeded expectations just by making the third round.

“I think this is my first time ever playing a British player here, so I was a little bit nervous honestly, going in,” Gauff told the crowd after her win on No. 1 Court. “Because I knew you guys would be for her. Which is totally understandable.”

Gauff will play another American next in Emma Navarro, who she beat in straight sets in Auckland in January. Navarro is making only her second appearance at Wimbledon, having lost in the first round last year, but also made the fourth round at the French Open in June.

Navarro beat Russia’s Diana Shnaider 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Friday.

“I think when I played her at the beginning of the year, I wasn’t necessarily ready for that challenge,” Navarro said of Gauff. “I know I have the level inside of me that can beat a player like her. It’s maybe just a matter of doing it on a bigger stage.”

Also on Friday, American 12-seed Madison Keys beat Ukrainian 18-seed Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-3 to reach the fourth round where she will take on French Open finalist Jasmine Paolini, who beat Bianca Andreescu 7-6 (4), 6-1.

Spain’s Paula Badosa dumped out 14-seed Daria Kasatkina, beating her 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-4 in the third round. Lulu Sun defeated Zhu Lin 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6).

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.