Tennis sensation Coco Gauff is OUT of Wimbledon

Teenage tennis sensation Coco Gauff tearfully today admitted she ‘wasn’t feeling 100 per cent’ as her magical Grand Slam debut ended in defeat while suffering from stomach cramps.

Coco valiantly lost to Romanian former world number one Simona Halep on Court 1 in two sets, both 6-3, as her mother Candi and father Corey Gauff watched on from the stands.

She was believed to be suffering from abdominal pains during her second set, with a doctor coming onto Court 1 to help. He could be seen passing Coco a pill and telling her: ‘Put this between your lip and your gum, don’t swallow it.’ 

Coco, ranked 313 in the world at the start of the tournament in London, got to the last 16 by beating her idol Venus Williams then fighting back from the brink of defeat to see off Polona Hercog.

But despite the defeat, she is guaranteed prize money of at least £176,000 – tripling her career earnings. 

Coco said after her defeat that she did not know what the stomach issue was, but ‘wasn’t feeling 100 per cent today’. But she added that she felt like she was playing in New York due to the support she had, which will be her best Wimbledon memory. 

She continued: ‘I don’t think I was tired because of the matches, I honestly think that something must just have came the past weekend, so we’ll see what it is tomorrow.’ 

When it was put to her that she looked annoyed to lose, she replied: ‘I was obviously disappointed and I would be disappointed in any loss. 

‘I think I need to go back to work and keep working hard and get ready for my next couple of tournaments.’

Coco added: ‘I’m going to go get back to work. I’m going to take a few days first, I think we’ll take a weekend, a family vacation. I’m excited to just go and chill a bit.’

She said she ‘had fun out on the court today even though I was losing’ and told the post-match press conference she ‘didn’t know how she felt’ and would see how she had digested the defeat in a few hours.   

Coco was also cheered on by her family back home in Delray Beach, Florida, who were excitedly watching at a local restaurant in the city, 55 miles north of Miami.

Meanwhile her growing army of fans, including Friends star Matthew Perry – who was a successful junior tennis plater while growing up in Canada – took to Twitter after her defeat to praise her sensational run, with many proclaiming ‘a star is born’. 

Billie Jean King, who won 20 Wimbledon championships and was the subject of the 2017 film Battle of the Sexes, tweeted: ‘Your journey is far from over, Coco Gauff. Looking forward to watching your future successes on the court and off. #BigFan.’ 

The foundation for the late Ukrainian-British player Elena Baltacha, who died of cancer in 2014, praised Coco for showing ‘so much promise’, while former footballer Fabrice Muamba said: ‘Keep your heads up and come back stronger than ever.’

Halep said after her victory today: ‘I am really happy I can play in the quarter-finals again, it’s one of my favourite tournaments. I enjoyed the crowd, the energy. I felt it really well and I felt the public enjoyed the match. I want to win every match I play.’

Coco is set to be a millionaire at 16, having signed to Roger Federer’s Team8 agency and with sponsorship deals with sports brands Head and New Balance.

Experts say she has the potential to become the highest paid female athlete of all time – winning Grand Slam tournaments could see her earn £100million a year.

Coco, whose celebrity fans include former First Lady Michelle Obama and rapper Snoop Dogg, has been the break-out star of the Championships.

She has pulled off sensational wins, but Romanian counter-puncher Halep, last year’s French Open champion, proved too strong for Coco on Court One, winning 6-3 6-3. 

The result should come as no surprise, as 12 months ago Halep was the world number one while Coco was losing in the quarter-finals of the juniors tournament.

Yet Coco went toe-to-toe with Halep, again showing no signs of being daunted in such illustrious company. There were nerves, understandably, and Coco’s serve came under immediate scrutiny with Halep securing a break in the first game.

Coco broke straight back, then held, and suddenly Halep had the jitters with a double fault, although she too held serve for 2-2.

Break point down, Coco casually volleyed a winner with all the poise of the seasoned grand-slam winner she was facing.

However, Halep’s experience told as she secured another break on her way to wrapping up the first set.

The signs were ominous when Halep went 2-0 up in the second, but yet again Coco hit back, before asking for a doctor courtside.

If the youngster was feeling unwell she was not showing it, coming from 0-30 to hold for 2-2.

Halep has been there and done it, though, and once again the 27-year-old turned the screw to move 5-2 up. 

Although Coco saved a couple of match points on her serve – one with another nonchalant volley – Halep eventually ensured the American’s Wimbledon adventure came to an end, for this year at least.

Serena Williams was asked what Gauff could learn from her in terms of the fame and expectation that came her way. She said: ‘We have a really strong family.  

‘For us, it’s like fame is relative. We’re not famous when we go home or when we go to sleep and we shut our eyes. We really look at ourselves as anyone else. 

‘We really always try to remain incredibly humble. I think it was the way we were raised by my mom and my dad just to take everything in stride.’

Coco’s thrilling win against Miss Hercog on Centre Court last week was watched by 5.2million viewers, the highest BBC audience for Wimbledon this year. 

It was also two million more than tuned in on Saturday to watch Andy Murray’s return in the mixed doubles. It even beat the viewing figures for last year’s women’s final. 

Before the match, she did not appear fazed at the prospect of facing Romanian Miss Halep, the seventh seed, on Court One.

‘I’m just going to approach her like every other match I have been approaching,’ she said. ‘My routine has been working pretty well.’

She said the highlight of her week was not on court but when Mrs Obama tweeted ‘Coco is terrific!’

The teenager, who warms up for matches by watching prank videos on YouTube, said: ‘I was super excited. She is one of my role models, so it was cool to see she knows I exist.’ 

Serena Williams is currently the only woman in the Forbes list of the top 100 earning athletes, but industry experts have predicted Gauff could overtake her.

Nigel Currie, former joint chairman of the European Sponsorship Association, told The Sunday Times: ‘Without doubt she has the potential to be the highest paid sports woman ever and it has been a crown waiting for someone to grab hold of for the last 10 years.

‘It has been crying out for a woman to become that figure. 

‘At the moment you would be talking about earnings of £50million a year as the dominant player in the women’s game, but if Gauff wins multiple Grand Slams and dominates you could probably double that.’

It emerged yesterday that Coco’s grandmother Yvonne Odom, who she said inspired her, was a trailblazer in the 1960s civil rights movement.

The 73-year-old made headlines in local newspapers when she became the first black pupil at all-white Seacrest High School in Delray Beach.

However, it was also reported that her paternal grandmother is suing her father Corey – who gave up his highly paid sales job to coach her – over a bar in their home town in Florida.

Coco’s grandmother Dr Deborah Wright, 67, put £400,000 into the opening Paradise Sports Lounge three years ago, according to The Sun.

But she claims Corey, 47, later forged her signature to transfer funds and barred her, while also alleging she was threatened with ‘physical harm’ by him.