Wimbledon 2022 – Coco Gauff’s first Grand Slam title will have to wait … but for how much longer?

LONDON — It could have been a devastating day for Coco Gauff.

She had arrived at Wimbledon brimming with confidence and coming off of her first major final at the French Open last month. Considered one of the favorites at this tournament, many believed this could be the Grand Slam in which Gauff made her seemingly inevitable breakthrough and won the title.

And on Saturday, with the Centre Court crowd firmly behind her and coming off of a dominant second-round win, one that she later called some of the best tennis she’s played on grass, the 18-year-old looked very much poised to advance to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the third time in her third appearance.

Gauff had a blistering start against fellow American Amanda Anisimova, rushing out to a 3-0 lead. But nothing was easy after that. Anisimova won the next four games, and Gauff needed a tiebreak to take the first set.

She won just three more games the rest of the match. Ultimately, Anisimova, 20, came out on top 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1 to advance to her first round of 16 at the All England Club, and Gauff was handed the earliest exit of her career at the tournament. Gauff quickly rushed off the court after the match, but several hours — and one mixed doubles victory — later, she could already see the bigger picture.

“I mean, I am disappointed, but also at the same time I think I did what I could in that moment in the match,” Gauff said on Saturday night. “She played well. I mean, I played well at moments, and didn’t play well in some moments. She was just the better player today.

“So I think there’s just a lot I think I have to improve on. I feel like I can get better. I feel like over this [European] trip literally every single day I’ve gotten better, and that’s all I can ask for.”

Now Gauff turns her attention to her mixed doubles run with Jack Sock — they reached the quarterfinals with another victory on Sunday — and then will focus on the upcoming hard-court portion of the summer. While she still wasn’t sure of her schedule for the lead-in events ahead of the US Open just yet, one thing is for sure: She will remain a contender at the year’s final major and have all of the expectations and attention that have followed her since she first came on the scene.

Even before her auspicious major debut at the All England Club in 2019, in which she defeated longtime idol Venus Williams on Centre Court in her opener and ultimately reached the fourth round, the hopes have been high for Gauff. Many have…