"Suddenly, it was 10:45pm and I thought, 'Oh dear!'" - Coco Gauff finishes in the nick of time amid a misunderstanding of the rules

Coco Gauff left it as late as it could have got against Belinda Bencic in the last-16 of Wimbledon. Her first ever quarter-final at this major tournament was overshadowed by the impending curfew that was avoided by just two minutes. While a slight misunderstanding of the rule offered Gauff a bit of unnecessary stress, she kept her cool and delivered the goods.

It has been an improved run at Wimbledon on a surface Gauff has previously troubled to get her head around. Amid serving issues, she did not win a single match on the surface in 2025 following her Roland Garros triumph and that was under threat once more following an early exit at the Berlin Ladies Open.

Gauff began her campaign in fine fashion, dropping just three games against a hapless Tamara Korpatsch. She then squeezed past Solana Sierra despite the Argentine having a chance to serve it out, once more showcasing that resilience and determination Gauff possesses so much of.

She made hard work of qualifier Claire Liu ahead of a very difficult tie against last year's semi-finalist Belinda Bencic. A lot was riding on this match, but she was able to get the win under her belt in a tremendous comeback win which went on very late.

Wimbledon is a unique Grand Slam for many reasons, with one in particular being the curfew. Matches in other tournaments such as the Australian Open can go on until the early hours of the next morning. This is not a thing at Wimbledon with a strict curfew at 11pm.

Based in a rural area, it is put in place to combat these concerns of the locals trying to go about their day while one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world is being hosted up the road.

Both players were aware of it before the match, and during the contest it most certainly popped into Gauff's head. It may not have been a concern if she did not fight her way back into the tie. Bencic was under a lot of pressure to defend the points earned from last year and recovered a 3-0 deficit to win the first set.

It was Gauff who came out the right side of a flurry of breaks in the second as she levelled up on serve to send the match into a third and deciding set.

However, time was running late, and Gauff was in a hurry to end proceedings. "Honestly, I thought about it throughout the match. Before the match, they told us it would end at 11pm," she recalled in her press conference. "We started the third set at 10:05pm. That should have been enough to finish the set, but oh well."

After breaking in the first game, Bencic broke back to make it 2-2. Gauff seized back the advantage before surviving another break point enroute to a 4-2 lead. By this time, the curfew was imminent and play would soon be halted if either player were not able to get the job done.

"Then we had a few endless games. Suddenly, it was 10:45pm. and I thought, 'Oh dear!' I didn't want to play the next day," she admitted. "I was just trying to get ahead and stay ahead because I figured I'd rather serve with a break lead than the opposite."

Gauff was forced to serve it out from 5-4 ahead with time ticking down. She had a close eye on the clock, but in the end it would not matter whether it past that all-important 11pm mark. Once the final game starts, the law becomes slightly more lenient with that specific game allowed to be concluded.

"Yes, I didn't realise that once the last game started, they would let us finish it, no matter how long it took. I thought it would definitely stop at 11pm," Gauff confirmed. She will not forget that for next time. "Good to know for next time, so I won't have to rush as much. They told us before the match that it would stop at 11pm. They didn't tell us there would be an extra game or anything like that. If they did, I missed it."

Away from the curfew, this is another huge result for Gauff. Her season has been a bit topsy turvey with some early exits in events such as the Qatar Open, Indian Wells, Madrid Open and Roland Garros spelling disastrous campaigns. In contrast, she has reached a brace of WTA 1000 finals in Miami and Rome and has broken new ground at Wimbledon. There is an obvious improvement in her serve and while she has not made it easy for herself, the 22-year-old will not give up until 'game, set and match' is called for either opponent.

She is the second highest ranked player left in the field following the obliteration of many of the top seeds including Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Mirra Andreeva. Only one player is ranked higher, and that is her next task in an all-American showdown against Jessica Pegula on the 7th July.