Coco Gauff's impressive victory over Sonay Kartal secures her Wimbledon fourth round spot

Coco Gauff (No. 2) easily defeated local Sonya Kartal (No. 298) 6-4, 6-0 to advance to the Round of 16 at Wimbledon. The 2023 US Open champion continues to be in great form and, like in the previous rounds, she conceded only a handful of games to reach the fourth round at SW19 for the third time in her career.

The last time she reached fourth round at Wimbledon was in 2020. In her two previous forays she failed to advance to the semi-finals, although this time she will arrive full of confidence and as favourite for the upcoming duel against her compatriot Emma Navarro.

The match started with 8 consecutive points won by the American, while her opponent's nerves were evident as she quickly committed several unforced errors. However, Kartal began to be competitive and improved her first serve to at least defend her service games. Although it seemed like a calm day for Gauff, who barely lost points on her serve, the definitive reaction from the Brit came in the 8th game when she achieved an unexpected break to level at 4-4.

The hope for Kartal didn't last long, as she then failed to defend her service game and Gauff took advantage of her second opportunity to get ahead again. She then closed the set in her favor at 6-4 from her serve after winning 88% of the points on her first serve but just 36% on her second serve. Kartal showed she had the tools to compete against the world No. 2, but she couldn't maintain the level in the second set.

Gauff won 18 of the first 20 points in the second set, giving her a comfortable 4-0 lead in less than 15 minutes. There was no space for a reaction from the Brit wildcard as Gauff secured her third consecutive break and then had no trouble with her serve to close the match with an ace, winning 6-4, 6-0 in just an hour and 23 minutes.

Gauff will seek to reach the quarterfinals at the All England Club for the first time when she faces her compatriot, 19th seed Emma Navarro. The American No. 4 made a great comeback to defeat Diana Shnaider 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 and advanced to the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time.