Teenage sensation Coco Gauff says she hopes that one thing her adoring fans at Wimbledon have learned about her in the past week is she is a "fighter" and "never gives up". The 15-year-old's hopes of moving into the quarter-finals were hindered by a stomach complaint in her 6-3, 6-3 loss to Simona Halep in the last 16, reports AFP.
She leaves, though, having turned herself into a media darling, signficantly improved her ranking from 313 and left her mark as a potential Grand Slam winner of the future.
However, even though Gauff, the youngest ever qualifier in the women's singles, who had then dispensed with three opponents including five-time champion Venus Williams, was more subdued following her defeat she still had a spark.
"I hope they (the crowd and her opponents) learned about me that I'm a fighter," she said. "I'll never give up."
Gauff, who endearingly described herself on Friday as both "goofy and weird", said she hoped she had served as an example to many who were dreaming of making it in tennis.
"I hope they learned from me that, I mean, anything is possible if you work hard, just continue to dream big," she said.
"I mean, like I said, if somebody told me this maybe three weeks ago, I probably wouldn't believe it.
"But I think just putting in the work definitely raised my confidence because I knew how hard I worked and I knew what shots I could make and what was possible."
Gauff, who refused to blame playing seven matches in the past fortnight for her loss, said overall it had been an extraordinary ride.
"I'd be like, that's crazy," she said. "I mean, I lost second round of qualifying in Paris. Now I made it to the second week. I'm super proud of myself. I'm excited to see what I'll do at US Open and the next couple tournaments coming up."
