Wild Wimbledon moment as Coco Gauff almost hits ball kid with crazy serve as she survives scare against Solana Sierra

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Coco Gauff scraped through her second-round match at Wimbledon against Solana Sierra, the American only just seeing off the Argentine in a third set tie-break in a match that featured one memorable serve - and not for the right reasons.

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Gauff came into Wimbledon off the back of one competitive match on grass, a loss in Berlin to Paula Badosa.

Having never made it past the fourth round here, the No. 7 seed had to work exceptionally hard for her 6-3 3-6 7-6(7) win over Sierra, who served for the match in the third set.

But the match will be remembered for more than the scoreline, with one of Gauff’s serves so wayward, it nearly hit a ball kid.

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Gauff’s effort hit the umpire’s chair without bouncing, her accuracy deserting her as she missed the court, the net and came close to a horror moment.

Luckily for Gauff, no one was hurt, and everyone saw the funny side - although it was the sort of mishit that lives long in the memory.

And credit to both ball kids, who instinctively ducked, but then held their positions as Gauff immediately held her hand up in apology.

Gauff’s serve has been a discussion point over the past 12 months, with the American changing up her team and bringing in Gavin MacMillan last year ahead of the US Open in a bid to sort out what can be a potent weapon.

Her serve caused her issues again in the Australian Open earlier this season, where she lost to Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals, but after making the final in Miami, it seemed Gauff had put some of those issues behind her.

Gauff hit 10 aces and five double faults in the end against Sierra, showing plenty of grit to come back from a break down in the third set, and she also came from behind in the match tie-break to seal the win.

Speaking on court after the match, Gauff said she was "happy" with how her serve held up - that one mishit notwithstanding.

”I was just happy and proud of myself," said Gauff. "Solana played a great match, and was hitting some big shots, so I felt like a lot of the time I was on the defensive, but, overall, just happy with my serve.

"It held up the whole match, and helped me in the tie-breaker.

"I was just reminding myself, my coach always tells me 'remember who you are', and I think, you know, I have a high break percentage most times, so when she served for the match, I just reminded myself I'm a great returner as well.

"I knew when I served, I think I saw my stats after the first or second set, I was like 92% first serves won, so I was just trying to be aggressive with my first serve, and my second serves were good too."

Gauff has a tough draw at Wimbledon, being in the same quarter as Jess Pegula, who comes here in great form. She is also in the same half as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

But next up is fellow American Claire Liu in the third round, the qualifier having beaten Zeynep Sonmez in straight sets.

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