How Wimbledon semi-finalists have found their feet on grass

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Coco Gauff is the only Wimbledon women's semi-finalist to have won a Grand Slam singles title By Jonathan Jurejko BBC Sport tennis news reporter at Wimbledon Published 4 minutes ago Coco Gauff, by her own admission, has never had the "best relationship" with grass courts. Marta Kostyuk, another Wimbledon semi-finalist, called her relationship with the surface "complicated". Czech pair Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova - the respective opponents of American two-time major champion Gauff and Ukraine's Kostyuk in Thursday's last-four matches - have also encountered problems. But everything has clicked into place for the SW19 semi-finalists this fortnight, meaning a first-time Wimbledon women's champion is guaranteed on Saturday. "Coco is the only one who has won a major - but I'm not committing to saying she's the favourite," said American former world number one Tracy Austin. "It will interesting to see how all four manage this with so much on the line." Image source, BBC Sport British wildcard Fery stuns Cobolli to reach semi-finals Published 12 hours ago 'It is not normal' - but extraordinary Djokovic defies odds once again Published 1 day ago Gauff learns not to play 'spectacularly' Gauff, 22, has won Grand Slam titles on the US Open hard courts in 2023 and the French Open clay in 2025 - but has never found the same level of confidence on grass. Her career breakthrough famously came at Wimbledon in 2019 when, as a 15-year-old, she came through qualifying and beat one of her idols Venus Williams on her way to the fourth round. But until this year, the American had not won a match on a grass court for two years. Gauff is an exceptional athlete who is able to move quickly around the court, but her footwork is not necessarily fluid when setting up shots from the baseline. Her serve has often been fragile, leading to numerous double faults, and her forehand has also been liable to falter in crucial moments. Last year she hired biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan, who helped Aryna Sabalenka overcome her serving issues before winning major titles, on the eve of the US Open to fix the issues. "I have really honed in on my game and realised I don't have to play a spectacular point every time to win," said Gauff. "I think it [the breakthrough] is just trusting myself. My groundstrokes are good enough to be with anyone on this surface." To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Figure caption, Gauff completes comeback over Pegula to reach first Wimbledon semi-final Fit-again Muchova 'selling' her game Muchova, 29, is also a first-time semi-finalist at the All England Club, having not won a single match here since 2021. Over the past six seasons, Muchova has reached the semi-finals at the other three majors but had suffered four successive first-round exits at Wimbledon. Muchova, known for her creativity and variety, has the game to excel on a surface that reward