Wimbledon’s Court 1 had more drama than anyone bargained for on Wednesday. Coco Gauff survived a huge scare, defeating Solana Sierra 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(10-7) in a dramatic three-set thriller. Before the match was decided, there was a moment that would have defaulted Gauff from the match if the ball had hit just 5 inches above.
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Gauff committed a double fault, which struck the pole of the chair umpire’s stand with enough force to startle both the ball boys sitting nearby and her close friend and broadcaster, Chris Eubanks. The fellow American was watching from the stands and could not hide his disbelief at what he had just witnessed.
Eubanks’ reaction in the stands captured exactly what the rest of Court 1 was feeling: a visible jolt, a look of sheer disbelief, then laughter. Gauff immediately raised her hand to apologize, got a laugh from the crowd, and moved on with the match.
Coco Gauff hits a double fault that hits the umpire’s chair at Wimbledon Chris Eubanks’ reaction. 😭😭😭😭
Although it seemed like the match would slip out of her hands, the American committed five double faults in the entire match, with 10 aces to match her tally. Her first serve win percentage was also as high as 78%, which came in handy in a tightly contested match.
The two-time Grand Slam champion had gone winless on the surface across all of last season and dropped a three-set match to Paula Badosa at the 2026 Berlin Open earlier this month, making this Wimbledon run feel more important than most. To continue her trouble, she did not look certain to win the match. Gauff, in the deciding-set tie-break, trailing 7-4, produced a stunning comeback by winning six consecutive points to escape with the victory.
Coco Gauff’s Wimbledon record has historically been her weakest at a major, with the American never having advanced beyond the fourth round in her six appearances at the All England Club. She entered the second round having not won a grass-court match in two years before this fortnight, with her last win on the surface coming in the 2024 Wimbledon third round.
The win over 22-year-old Argentine was not as clean a performance as fans are used to witnessing, but it was the kind of gritty, resilient performance that titles are often built on. Their only previous meeting on clay in Rome this season saw Gauff win after losing the first set; Wednesday followed a nearly identical pattern.
Gauff moves into the third round with a scare behind her and the umpire’s chair still intact. This comeback victory will give her the confidence to make a deep run in the tournament. She will be facing an American qualifier, Claire Liu, in the round of 32 on Friday.