Coco Gauff, the women`s second seed, suffered a surprising defeat in the first round of Wimbledon, losing in straight sets to Dayana Yastremska. This made her the highest-ranked player to be eliminated in the first two days of the tournament.
Fresh off her second Grand Slam victory at the French Open just a month prior, Gauff seemed a shadow of her dominant self. Her serve was particularly problematic, contributing nine double faults, and she was broken four times in the 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 loss.
A tearful Gauff commented after the match that she felt “mentally overwhelmed” by the aftermath of her French Open win, stating she “didn`t have enough time to celebrate and also get back into it.”
She also expressed disappointment in her performance, saying, “I definitely was struggling… I don’t like losing. I just feel a little bit disappointed in how I showed up today.”
Despite her significant breakthrough at the All England Club in 2019 at the age of 15 (where she beat Venus Williams and reached the fourth round), the grass courts have proven to be Gauff`s least successful major surface, being the only Grand Slam where she hasn`t reached the semi-finals.
While it was a challenging first-round opponent in world No. 42 Yastremska from Ukraine, Gauff, aged 21, would have expected to advance. This marks only the third time in her career she has lost in the first round of a major, and the first since her previous appearance at Wimbledon in 2023.
Gauff attributed the difficulty to “changing my playing style a little bit, which is difficult.” She added, “I have faith that if I can make these adjustments, I can do well here. I really do want to do well here.”
Overall, the first two days of Wimbledon saw a significant number of upsets, with 23 seeded players (13 men and 10 women) eliminated. This equals the highest number of seeds knocked out in the first two days of a Grand Slam since the introduction of 32 seeds in 2001.
Women`s Seeds to Fall in First Round
- #2 Gauff
- #3 Pegula
- #5 Zheng
- #9 Badosa
- #15 Muchova
- #20 Ostapenko
- #25 Frech
- #26 Kostyuk
- #27 Linette
- #32 Kessler
Djokovic Survives Late-Evening Scare to Set Up Evans Match
Novak Djokovic advanced to the second round with a victory over Alexandre Muller on Centre Court, despite a late scare. He will face Great Britain`s Dan Evans on Thursday.
Djokovic, 38, is aiming for his 25th Grand Slam singles title. He required a medical timeout after losing the second-set tie-breaker to the 41st-ranked Frenchman but ultimately recovered to win 6-1 6-7 (7-9) 6-2 6-2. The match concluded at 10:30 pm, just before the 11 pm curfew.
Seven British players secured wins on Monday, the best tally for British players on a single day at Wimbledon in the Open era. Dan Evans became the eighth to reach the second round with a 6-1 7-5 6-2 win against fellow Briton Jay Clarke at 4:48 pm, setting up the clash with Djokovic. This was the 35-year-old Evans` first Wimbledon victory in four years.
“I`d love it to be on Centre, to get a chance to play him [Djokovic],” Evans said after his win. “He`s at the latter end of his career and I`d go out there and give it a really good go. It would be special in England to play the greatest of all time.”
Elsewhere in the men`s draw, world No 1 Jannik Sinner comfortably moved into the second round, defeating his Italian compatriot Luca Nardi 6-4 6-3 6-0 in just an hour and 48 minutes.
American fifth seed Taylor Fritz secured a hard-fought victory over France`s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, winning 6-7 (8-10) 6-7 (8-10) 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 in a match suspended on Monday evening.
Georgia`s Nikoloz Basilashvili caused an upset by beating Italian seventh seed and last year`s semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-1.
Defeats for No 3 Seeds Zverev and Pegula
Along with Gauff, major seeded casualties on Tuesday included men`s and women`s world No 3s, Alexander Zverev and Jessica Pegula.
Alexander Zverev and Arthur Rinderknech were tied at one set each when their match was halted on Monday. Upon resuming on Centre Court, the Frenchman prevailed with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 6-7 (7-5) 6-4 victory.
This was Zverev`s first first-round loss at a Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2019, meaning the 28-year-old is still seeking his first major title after 38 attempts.
Jessica Pegula found it difficult to explain her unexpected Wimbledon exit, praising the “insane” performance of her opponent Elisabetta Cocciaretto. Last year`s US Open runner-up was defeated 6-2 6-3 by the Italian world No 116 in just 58 minutes.
When asked about the loss, the 31-year-old American replied: “I don`t know. She played absolutely incredible tennis.”
“Do I think I played the best match ever? No. But I definitely don`t think I was playing bad. It`s really a bummer to lose. I haven`t lost first round of a Slam in a very long time, so that sucks.”
Cocciaretto, who had only previously beaten a top-10 player once, significantly turned the tables on Pegula, having lost to her 6-4 6-0 in the third round at the All England Club in 2023.
Defending Champ Krejcikova Comes Through Scare
Defending women`s singles champion Barbora Krejcikova faced a test from promising 20-year-old Alexandra Eala, losing the first set before finding her rhythm to win 3-6 6-2 6-1.
Eala is the first player from the Philippines to appear in the Wimbledon main draw in the Open era, and Krejcikova was full of praise for her young opponent afterwards.
“I mean, what the hell [kind of tennis] she played in the first set?” the reigning champion exclaimed. “She was smashing the ball and cleaning the lines, so wow, wow. She`s going to be really good in a couple of years.”
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek, seeded eighth, is yet to win Wimbledon but showed positive signs in her 7-5 6-1 victory over Polina Kudermetova, while Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva advanced with a 6-3 6-3 win against Mayar Sherif.
The women`s draw has now lost three of its top five seeds after No 5 Qinwen Zheng of China, the Olympic champion, suffered her third consecutive first-round defeat at Wimbledon, beaten 7-5 4-6 6-1 by Czech doubles specialist Katerina Siniakova.
Elsewhere, US 10th seed Emma Navarro defeated two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-3 6-1 in a match lasting exactly an hour. This marked Kvitova`s final appearance at Wimbledon before retirement.
Queen`s champion Tatjana Maria, a semi-finalist in 2022, also exited early, losing in three sets to American Katie Volynets.
Men`s Seeds to Fall in First Round
- #3 Zverev
- #7 Musetti
- #8 Rune
- #9 Medvedev
- #16 Cerundolo
- #18 Humbert
- #20 Popyrin
- #24 Tsitsipas
- #27 Shapovalov
- #28 Bublik
- #30 Michelsen
- #31 Griekspor
- #32 Berrettini
