Coco Gauff blows match point to suffer agonising Wimbledon heartbreak on brink of final place

Coco Gauff crashed out of Wimbledon in a dramatic semifinal defeat to Karolina Muchova, after she blew match point on a drop shot.

The American, who had dreams of reaching her first final at the All England Club, came up short 2-6, 6-1, 6-7 (10-12) after a thrilling tiebreak against a formidable grass-court opponent making her debut on Centre Court.

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Gauff, seeded seventh and the highest seed left in the 2026 tournament, found herself in trouble early on, and was unable to harness the comeback tennis that had carried her through to the last four.

For four of her five matches so far – including the Round of 16 and quarterfinal – Gauff had come through in a third set decider, but it was not to be, as with a final place in touching distance, she blew her one chance of a thrilling contest.

Gauff will rue a missed drop shot on match point, which she set up beautifully with a strong first serve but with the open court begging, she pushed a drop shot into the net – drawing audible gasps on from the Centre Court crowd.

Instead, it was Muchova who achieved the biggest win of her career to date, and will contest her second Grand Slam final on Saturday.

“It sounds really nice to be in a final,” the world No.9 said in victory.

“It was such a big fight, a roller coaster, up and down. There was no time to think, it was very nerve-wracking.

“The atmosphere here was indescribable.”

Muchova will face either Marta Kostyuk or Linda Noskova in the SW19 showpiece Saturday.

Coco Gauff beaten in Wimbledon epic

In what has been the story of her tournament so far, the two-time Grand Slam champion was on the back foot early on.

While she held serve in the opening game, she was then broken twice as Muchova took a commanding 4-1 lead in her first match on Centre Court.

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The Czech star was able to close out the first set 6-2, and saved three break points en-route to doing so.

In baking temperatures, Gauff served up yet another double fault and 12 unforced errors in the opening 39 minutes of action.

The 22-year-old perhaps rode her luck in an impressive quarterfinal comeback win against Pegula, and once again left herself with work to do.

After a dominant service game to start the second set, Gauff started to settle in and upped her speed, accuracy and intensity to break Muchova for a 3-1 lead.

She was able to hold serve from there and break again, to comfortably win the set 6-1 and tie the match.

In a decider for the fifth time at this year’s Wimbledon, those watching on Centre Court had seen this script many times before.

But this time, it was Muchova who delivered when it mattered most.

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Gauff held a tricky first service game that included sending an overhead smash wide for deuce, and the two competitors then went toe-to-toe on serve, with Muchova later squeezing through a game, to set up a dramatic tiebreak that would send one to the final.

Muchova appeared in discomfort heading into the 10-point decider, holding her ribs.

But even as she paced around gingerly, the Czech star dug deep, and hit some of her fastest serves of the match — as well as a diving volley — to race into a 6-3 lead.

Gauff scrapped back to 6-6, and despite suffering a double fault at the worst time, rallied to pull in front to serve out the match.

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But with the final on the line the American missed whatwas to be her only match point.

Muchova followed up that dramatic moment with a magical lob to serve for the win herself.

While a slip might have opened the door one final time, she closed out an epic 12-10 tiebreak to stun Centre Court.

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