WIMBLEDON, England—CoCo Vandeweghe, who upset No. 11 Karolina Pliskova in the second round at Wimbledon, believes she can reach No. 1 in the world. The American is currently ranked No. 48 and has reached the third round of Wimbledon for the first time.
“I want to be No. 1 in the world, that’s always been my goal,” she said. “Yeah, why not. I’ve always thought that. It’s kind of similar to going out in a match and thinking I’m going to lose. It’s been a long time dream of mine. It’s like winning a Grand Slam, winning a gold medal, those are lifelong dreams of mine. So to put it to the wayside for whatever reason I think is silly.”
Even though Pliskova had a much higher ranking, Vandeweghe said that before she came on the court, she believed that she was better than her.
“I have more weapons than her, personally,” Vandeweghe said. “She’s definitely the higher ranked player. She’s had the results through the year consistently, but I thought off the ground I could rally her, which I did. In the return of serve games if I got a beat on her serve I would be able to break her, which I eventually did. And I thought I could serve better than her, which I did. I really think going there that I was the better player and I should win that match.”
The San Diego resident faces Samantha Stosur in the third round.