WIMBLEDON, England -- Coco Gauff tapped her left wrist and smiled as she walked to the net.
She had sealed the 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Belinda Bencic on No. 1 Court with a service winner -- with under two minutes to go before the tournament's mandatory curfew would have suspended play for the night.
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Her celebratory gesture was clearly referencing the expiring clock, but it would have worked for what she had achieved with the victory as well. Seven years after her first Wimbledon appearance, in which she had become an overnight sensation as a 15-year-old qualifier and reached the fourth round in her first major main draw, Gauff advanced to the quarterfinals at the All England Club for the first time.
The time is now.
"I'm super happy to be in the quarters finally," Gauff said on court soon after. "I don't know how many tries it's been."
While Gauff, 22, has won major titles at the US Open and the French Open since her breakthrough at Wimbledon in 2019, and reached the semifinals at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the grass had remained weak spots. She had made the fourth round on three other occasions, although she had not won a set in any of those appearances, and had also lost twice in the first round, including last season. Gauff has never reached a grass-court final on tour and even lost in the opening round of her lone lead-in tournament this season.