Teenage sensation Cori Gauff’s fairytale Wimbledon run has been ended by seventh seed Simona Halep.
The 15-year-old, who beat Venus Williams, Magdalena Rybarikova and Polona Hercog to reach round four, bowed out 6-3 6-3 against the former world number one.
Gauff was suddenly the hottest ticket in town but she was always going to find it tough against Halep, last year’s French Open champion and the first top-10 opponent she had ever faced.
Bidding to become the youngest Wimbledon quarter-finalist since fellow-15-year-old Jennifer Capriati in 1991, Gauff was by no means overawed, keeping the crowd entertained with some crashing backhands and athletic recoveries, but there were also far too many simple errors that the American was never going to get away with at this stage of the tournament.
Halep, who had given an indication of her form when dismissing the dangerous Victoria Azarenka in the last round, had to work hard before eventually taking a relatively even first set.