Tennis–Cautious Gauff targets Channel Slam at Wimbledon, 10 years after Serena Williams
June 28 (Reuters) - Second seed Coco Gauff is chasing a rare Channel Slam at Wimbledon after lifting her maiden French Open title, the American said on Saturday, though she is keeping expectations in check as she adapts to the quick transition from clay to grass.
The last woman to achieve the Channel Slam -- winning Wimbledon and the French Open in the same year -- was Serena Williams, who accomplished the feat in 2002 and again in 2015.
The 21-year-old Gauff, who became the first American woman since Williams in 2015 to win at Roland Garros, is not putting too much pressure on herself though, having never made it past the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Gauff played only in Berlin in the run-up to Wimbledon, where she was stunned by China's Wang Xinyu in the round of 16.
"I understand why it (a Channel Slam) hasn't been done that often. Except I guess Carlos (Alcaraz), he makes it look pretty easy. Novak (Djokovic), too. I didn't realise it was 10 years since Serena," Gauff told reporters.
"I would love to do that. Also, I'm not going to put that much pressure on myself because I've been telling my team and people around me, this is all new territory for me.
"I'm trying to take it as I go. If I were to end up there, it would be great. If not, I'll try to come up with a better way to prepare for this tournament next year."
While Gauff's athleticism and baseline power have taken her deep on hard and clay courts, her game has yet to fully click on grass, where the low bounce and quick pace often disrupt players' rhythm and court coverage.
Asked what she would focus on to strengthen her game on the surface, Gauff said, "For sure movement. It's obviously a lot different than clay. Just keeping the ball lower."
"And then serve, I want to be pretty aggressive with the serve here just because it's grass."
Gauff will face Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska in her opening match on Tuesday.
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Times
16 minutes ago
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Chelsea book place in quarter-finals — 4hrs and 38mins after kick-off
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Finally, they kept their heads, won a game they must have felt was already theirs. We'll get to that. First, the madness. There were five minutes remaining in normal time when the referee, Slavko Vincic, led the players off with lightning in the area and Chelsea in control and leading 1-0. And they did not return for close to two hours. There were several false starts. Predicted times to return scuppered by more lightning. Warm-ups aborted. And as the minutes ticked by so the advantage moved to Benfica. There was almost an air of inevitability about the return. When referee Vincic — Slovenian, over-promoted — brought the teams back on, all the momentum was with the Portuguese. They had been poor to this point. Their best, their only, chance had come when the Chelsea goalkeeper, Robert Sánchez, misjudged a shot from Fredrik Aursnes. Yet here was a free hit. Bonus time. Had the game played out when it should have done, Chelsea would almost certainly have won. 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We can judge the letter of the law and its many travesties, yet the fact remains that once again Chelsea did not pull clear given every opportunity. Chances were squandered — some by Marc Cucurella, playing an extremely attacking role — good positions wasted. Chelsea should have had this wrapped by half-time, by full-time, and certainly within four hours. Instead they went into extra time level, and up against it — even when Gianluca Prestianni was sent off not just for his foul on Levi Colwill but for the equally nasty reaction that followed. What chaos. For Chelsea had been coasting. Their goal was a thing of beauty, too. Minute 62, Reece James sized up the simplest of passes down the flank and bunged it straight into touch. Minute 64, he gave Chelsea the lead with a free kick full of intelligence and class. That's the thing with the best players. They aren't easily fazed, not easily knocked out of their stride. James had already forgotten that duffed pass when he scored. He had already alighted on a redeeming plan. He had spotted Benfica's goalkeeper, Anatoliy Trubin, in a poor position. Trubin was expecting a cross and, for this reason, had left too much room at his near post. He's 6ft 6in, mind, Trubin. It would need to be some special kick to beat him, no matter where he stood. So James took a special free kick. James takes quite a few of them these days since his comeback from injury. One against Bournemouth on January 14 this year, another for England against Latvia in March. And now this. A special goal, a lucrative goal, given helped take Chelsea into the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup. It was thought James could get lost in the various reshuffles of the Maresca era, squeezed out at full back, swamped by sheer numbers in central midfield. That's not going to happen now. He's a player. Chelsea need players. Not just vanloads of players. Proper ballers. MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS So James whipped in his free kick at the near post, Trubin scrambled unsuccessfully, and the game should have been won. It would have been no more than Chelsea deserved. Ultimately, then, justice was done. As extra time spun out, so Chelsea's man advantage showed. Benfica were carved open, three times in nine minutes. Cole Palmer found Moisés Caicedo in the penalty area and his shot squirmed under Trubin towards the goalline. Otamendi first stopped Nkunku but could do no more as he turned the loose ball into the empty net, from a yard. Minutes later, Pedro Neto was left one on one from the halfway line, and made no mistake. For the fourth Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall did the same. So this was a decent afternoon's work that turned into a good night. An eye-catching performance in parts, much improved on Chelsea's group stage form. They have still not hit the heights achieved by Manchester City but this is a team bedding in. Character-building, too. Get through this lunacy and who knows where it ends. Benfica (4-2-3-1): A Trubin 8 — F Aursnes 6 (T Gouveia 86), A Silva 7, N Otamendi 5, S Dahl 5 — F Luis 6 (G Prestianni 70), L Barreiro 6, O Kokcu 6 (J Veloso 85) — V Pavlidis 6 (A Belotti 70), A Di Maria 7, A Schjelderup 5 (K Akturkoglu 46 6). Booked Kokcu, Luis, Pavlidis, Prestianni, Silva, Gouveia. Sent off Prestianni. Chelsea (4-2-2-2): R Sanchez 6 — R James 8 (M Gusto 80), B Badiashile 5 (T Adarabioyo 69), L Colwill 7 (A Anselmino 118), M Cucurella 7 — M Caicedo 8, R Lavia 6 (T Chalobah 85) — C Palmer 7, E Fernández 6 (K Dewsbury-Hall 81) — P Neto 7, L Delap 7 (C Nkunku 80). Booked M Caicedo. C Palmer.
The Guardian
18 minutes ago
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Nkunku extra-time goal sees Chelsea through to Club Word Cup last eight after four-hour match
The never-ending season had the never-ending game. This was Chelsea's 61st game of a gruelling campaign and they emerged victorious only after the competing forces of the erratic American weather and the pedantic interference of VAR dragged it into extra-time at the Bank of America Stadium. There cannot have been a weirder denouement to a football match. There was a delay lasting close to two hours because of a thunderstorm, a contentious equalising penalty from Benfica after play resumed, a red card and, perhaps least expected of all, a winning goal from Christopher Nkunku to send Chelsea through to the last eight of the Club World Cup. They all streamed off Chelsea's bench when the France forward stuck the ball into the net in the 108th minute. Nkunku, who is up for sale after falling from favour, had put Enzo Maresca's side 2-1 up after pouncing when Moises Caicedo's shot squirmed from Anatoliy Trubin's grasp. They will face Palmeiras next and will see a chance to reach the semi-finals after making it through a barmy contest. It should not have been this complicated. Ahead through a thunderbolt of a free-kick from Reece James, Chelsea were within touching distance of beating Benfica in normal time. The game was done. Benfica, displaying none of the vim that saw them beat Bayern Munich, were poor. Presumably it was not part of their plan when play stopped with five minutes to go, the Slovenian referee sent the players down the tunnel and the 25,929 fans at the Bank of America Stadium were ordered to seek cover after lightning struck within a 10-mile radius. Severe weather protocol implemented, there was no option but to wait. And wait. Chelsea were cruising until the sky over Charlotte went dark. The protocol involves a minimum 30-minute delay but the clock reset after every lightning strike. An idea: if you're in an area prone to dangerous weather, build a stadium with a roof. Time dragged on, good news elusive. The game did not resume for one hour and 53 minutes. The teams had spent the time keeping themselves warm in their dressing rooms. Unfortunately there were no individual walkouts when they returned to the pitch. With another weather system on the way, the decision was made to ignore the protocol and get the game done. They rushed through a warmup, Chelsea brought Trevoh Chalobah on for Romeo Laiva and play restarted with a Robert Sanchez free-kick. Desperation took over. Six minutes were added on, Benfica won a free-kick and pumped the ball into the Chelsea area. Malo Gusto leapt with his arms outstretched but mistimed his jump. Soon Benfica were appealing for a penalty, claiming the Chelsea defender had handled when Nicolas Otamendi headed on. Play carried on but not for long. It was that kind of night. A VAR review was inevitable. 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From a free-kick way out on the left, James sized up the angles and caught Trubin out at his near post, shooting when everyone expected a cross. It was the captain's third free-kick of 2025. That was a minor detail. The lightning took over. Extra-time was fun, Palmer testing Trubin, Di Maria leading a series of counterattacks. Yet Prestiani's folly cost Benfica. Eventually Chelsea made their extra man count. Nkunku, who seems to have no place in Maresca's system and had come on for Liam Delap merely to see Chelsea over the line when it was 1-0, scored from three yards out. Neto and Dewsbury-Hall then ran through to score with polished finishes. It took four hours and 38 minutes to complete. Chelsea march on.
Reuters
22 minutes ago
- Reuters
Extra time goals see Chelsea down 10-man Benfica to advance to quarters
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, June 29 (Reuters) - Chelsea scored three times in the second period of extra-time to hand 10-man Benfica a 4-1 defeat in Charlotte in their weather-affected last 16 Club World Cup clash on Saturday as the English side set up a quarter-final meeting with Brazil's Palmeiras. Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored in a nine minute spell to take Enzo Maresca's side through after the teams had been forced off the pitch for almost two hours due to a lightning storm. Chelsea had taken the lead through Reece James in the 64th minute while Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni was sent off two minutes into injury time. But Angel di Maria scored from the penalty spot three minutes later to salvage a draw for the Portuguese side, taking the game into extra-time from where Chelsea eventually prevailed to set up their meeting with Palmeiras on Friday.
