Cori Gauff’s Wimbledon fairytale came to an end at the hands of Simona Halep on Monday.

The undoubted star of the last seven days in SW19 fell to a straight sets defeat to the former world number one and seventh seed Halep, 6-3, 6-3.

Charming and thrilling the crowds on Henman Hill, the 15-year-old known as ‘Coco’ won over the public with her three incredible wins overVenus Williams, Magdalena Rybarikova and Polona Hercog.

Picking up a cheque for £176,000 for her efforts, the superstar in waiting admitted it’ll be ‘life as normal’ when she heads home to complete her exams.

"I literally have two weeks left, I probably could have been finished (my exams) if I didn't play this, but I'm so close," she said.

"My teachers definitely let me take a break a little so I could focus on my matches. I still want to go to college. It's kind of like a requirement, I guess, from my parents.

"It's crazy how big this has got. Some of the celebrities that tweeted me I didn't even know followed tennis. They probably don't follow tennis.

"The support from the crowd was really surprising because you don't really expect this kind of support when you're in another country, not your home country. I really did feel like I was probably playing in New York or somewhere.

"These past two weeks have been amazing. I'm excited to be back next year."

Surrey Comet:

2014 semi-finalist Halep cast as the pantomime villain had little regard for fairytales as she set about targeting Gauff’s serve.

The youngster held firm, trading early breaks before the one-time grand slam Champion held firm to see out the first set.

Gauff’s metal seemed to be broken after Halep went an early break up in the second, but if we’ve learned anything from the American is that she’ll never lay down as she pushed Halep hard for the victory.

Saving a brace of match points on her serve, Halep eventually saw of the spirited teenager and bring her time at Wimbledon to an end, for 2019 at least.

"I hope they learned about me that I'm a fighter.

“I'll never give up.

“I hope they learned from me that, I mean, anything is possible if you work hard, just continue to dream big."