Serena Williams Marches Into Wimbledon Quarterfinals, Coco Gauff's Dream Run Ends

Serena Williams marched into the Wimbledon quarterfinals, while Coco Gauff's dream run came to an end.

Those were some of the major storylines from the women's Round of 16 action on Monday at Wimbledon.

Williams, the No. 11 seed and seven-time Wimbledon champ, had little trouble with Carla Suarez Navarro, dispatching her, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.

There she will meet fellow American Alison Riske, the unseeded Pittsburgh native who scored the biggest win of her career by knocking off world No. 1 and French Open champion Ash Barty, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

If she gets past Riske, Williams would face the winner between Barbora Strycova and either No. 6 Petra Kvitova or No. 19 Johanna Konta. Kvitova is the highest remaining woman's seed.

When the draw first came out, Serena's quarter was called the "Group of Death" because it contained seven Grand Slam champions, but now Serena is the only one left standing.

The owner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, Williams is attempting to tie Margaret Court's all-time record of 24.

Williams' last Grand Slam title -- and last title of any kind -- came at the 2017 Australian Open when she beat her older sister Venus in the final. A year ago, she lost in the finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open.

Serena is seeking to become the fourth mother in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title. Since becoming a mother in September 2017 and then dealing with serious health issues in the aftermath, Serena has played 13 events without winning a title.

Williams, who is worth an estimated $225 million according to Forbes, has been bothered by a knee injury this year and was forced to withdraw from three straight events because of it, and lost in the third round at the French Open to Sofia Kenin. But she says she's much better now after resting and training heading into Wimbledon.

"This was the best I've felt since February," Williams said on the BBC after her second-round match. "I pretty much had to skip most of the hardcourt season and just a couple matches on clay. I'm feeling good, so it's just so amazing.

"I am better now. I haven't felt this way since February. I just feel so thankful and I am happy, and now I get to play with my baby. And it's fun, I get to do everything I love."

As for the 15-year-old Gauff, she became the second-youngest woman ever to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon, but there she looked fatigued against former world No. 1 Simona Halep.

No. 7 Halep dispatched Gauff, 6-3, 6-3, and will next face Zhang Shuai in the quarterfinals on the bottom half of the draw.

The other quarterfinal there pits No. 8 Elina Svitolina against unseeded Karolina Muchova, who beat her Czech countrywoman Karolina Pliskova, the No. 3 seed, 4-6, 7-5, 13-11.

Source: Forbes.com

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