Cori Gauff's fairytale Wimbledon run came to an end at the hands of seventh seed Simona Halep.
The 15-year-old has been the break-out star of the Championships, charming and thrilling SW19 with sensational wins over her idol Venus Williams, Magdalena Rybarikova and Polona Hercog.
But Romanian counter-puncher Halep, last year's French Open champion, proved too strong for Gauff on Court One, winning 6-3 6-3.
The No.1 Court crowd rises to acknowledge all the excitement @CocoGauff has given us 🤗 And remember – this is just the beginning... #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/UBiOYSxPeU — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2019
The result should come as no surprise, as 12 months ago Halep was the world number one while Gauff was losing in the quarter-finals of the juniors tournament.
Yet Gauff, known as 'Coco', went toe-to-toe with Halep, again showing no signs of being daunted in such illustrious company.
There were nerves, understandably, and Gauff's serve came under immediate scrutiny with Halep securing a break in the first game.
Gauff 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, Gauff 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 Gauff 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 Gauff 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.
ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Andy Sims, PA');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '19388622-aa37-4318-92bc-6f9d20506585');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:tennis');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Cori Gauff\u2019s Wimbledon adventure ended by Simona Halep'});
