LONDON—CoCo Vandeweghe, into the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, says her confidence is building with the second week of play underway, which should help her game.
The California native is ranked No. 25, and while she is very powerful, she can also pile up errors.
“I think my game runs on confidence,” Vandeweghe said. “I'm not going to be able to hit my shots if I'm thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh, I'm going to miss. I haven't made this forehand in four tries, I'm going to miss this next one.’
“That's where my confidence rides a little bit. I go into matches thinking that I can win every match I play … Confidence is a huge thing for me.”
Vandeweghe, now a two-time quarterfinalist at Wimbledon, reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open, but until this week had not had a very good season since. Her best performance was reaching the quarterfinals of Madrid, and on grass in Birmingham she defeated Johanna Konta before retiring with an injury against Garbine Muguruza.
The 25-year-old recently changed coaches and is now working with Pat Cash.
But Vandeweghe says that she is now calmer in the majors because of her run at the Australian Open.
“Once you have done it once, it's easier to do it the second time,” Vandeweghe said. “I think the first time making a second week of a Grand Slam is probably the most difficult, second to defending it. That's a different kind of pressure that is self-brought upon. Once you get there, the nerves aren't so anxious, in a way of, ‘Can I do this, can I not?’ Because you have already proven it to yourself.”
Vandeweghe upset former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, 7-6 (4), 6-4, in the fourth round on Monday.
