Amid the upheaval in the Wimbledon women's draw, Coco Gauff said that despite the exits of established champions, the tournament's entertainment value has soared.
Of the 13 Grand Slam titlists who graced the grass courts, only three survived as play concluded on Sunday, leaving Elena Rybakina as the lone bearer of the coveted Venus Rosewater Dish.
The other two survivors, Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova are also in the top half of the draw with Rybakina.
That means there will definitely be at least one new Grand Slam finalist come Saturday from the bottom half, where the highest seed left is Jasmine Paolini at seven.
Gauff has been tipped as a Wimbledon champion-in-waiting ever since she caused one of the biggest shocks in Wimbledon history by defeating her childhood idol Venus Williams in the first round of the 2019 tournament when she was still a 15-year-old school student.
That dream will remain unfulfilled for at least another year after the U.S. Open champion was unceremoniously shown the exit by compatriot Emma Navarro on Sunday.
With both of the top two seeds out before the quarterfinals and world number one Iga Swiatek having fallen by the wayside in the third round, Gauff said that people should not place much emphasis on seedings.
"I've played so many slams where anybody can win. The seed is just a number, just an advantage so you don't play another seed first round. That doesn't mean you can't lose, as we've seen a lot of seeds drop out. We've seen defending champions drop out," the American told reporters.
"Even though the (unseeded) players may not be as well-known, they're so talented. That's something that fans of the game sometimes overlook. Maybe their ranking isn't there, but the level is there.
"They're here for a reason. They deserve their spot. There's no easy draw. There's no cakewalk or anything. This is a competitive sport and we all want to win."
Nowhere has that been more evident than at Wimbledon as the last seven editions have been won by seven different players from seven different nations.
Whereas the tournament often featured repeat champions such as Martina Navratilova (nine titles), Steffi Graf (seven), Venus Williams (five), and Serena Williams (seven), memories of such dominance on grass were fading fast.
"When you see seven different champions in the past few years, that just shows there's so much depth in the game. I think it's great. I think it makes the sport entertaining," the 20-year-old said.
"There are no easy matches ... it pushes me as a player to want to be better."
