Last year, Coco Gauff suffered a heartbreaking R1 exit at Wimbledon against Dayana Yastremska. This season, a R16 loss at the Berlin Tennis Open again disrupted her grass-court preparations. However, after surviving another scare against Solana Sierra today, the 22-year-old American credited her breakthrough moment against Venus Williams for helping her push through the challenge.

“It’s very special, like you said,” Coco said in her post-match interview. “It’s like my breakout moment and fighting with one of my idols, and it was insane, and every time I walk down the hallway, I got déjà vu, and I just remind myself that if I can do that five years ago, then I’m definitely better since then, so I definitely can do it now,” she explained.

The emotions stretched back 7 years when a 15-year-old American qualifier shocked the tennis world by defeating 5x SW19 champion Venus Williams in R1. Then ranked world No. 313, Coco defeated the former world No. 1 6-4, 6-4, making the victory one of the biggest stories of the tournament.

The match was historic for another reason as well. The elder sister of the Williams duo had turned professional 10 years before Coco was even born. Even that year, Gauff became the youngest player to qualify for SW19’s main draw since the Open Era began in 1968.

After winning the match, Gauff also shared what Venus told her on the court. “Venus told me congratulations and keep going, she said good luck, and I told her thanks for everything she did,” Gauff added back in 2019.

Yet, a lot has changed since that unforgettable afternoon. Venus Williams, 46, is now competing in the doubles event at SW19, while Gauff has won 2 Grand Slam titles and even reached world No. 2 last year.

And today, Gauff had to overcome a very different challenge. Trailing 5-3 in the 3rd set and then 7-4 in the final-set tie-break, the 22-year-old refused to back down. Instead, Gauff reeled off 6 consecutive points to complete a dramatic 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7) victory in 2 hours and 8 minutes.

And while she is now safely into the R3, Gauff has also opened up about how she managed to push through the toughest moments of the match and find a way to win.

Coco Gauff shares how positivity fueled her thrilling victory at Court 1

Before meeting the world No. 7 in the R2 of Wimbledon, Solana Sierra had already faced her twice this season. With each meeting, the Argentine looked more comfortable taking on the 2x Grand Slam champion.

Their opening encounter this year came at the United Cup, where Gauff dominated that match, allowing Sierra to win just two games.

Their 2nd meeting arrived at the Italian Open, where Sierra pushed Gauff much harder and even built a 3-0 lead in the deciding set before the former world No. 2 stormed back to win 6 of the final 7 games.

On Wednesday, the Argentine came even closer to pulling off the upset. Once again, though, the Delray Beach native found a way to escape another difficult situation.

And after the match, Gauff admitted that staying positive made all the difference. “Though I was nervous at most points in the match, I was just trying to be positive, and I think that showed,” Gauff said. “When she had a serve for the match, I just reminded myself I’m a great returner as well,” she explained.

Gauff will next face world No. 146 Claire Liu, who defeated Zeynep Sonmez in her R2 match at Court 15. Who do you think will survive the test? Share your pick below!