Wimbledon: World No. 2 Coco Gauff Stunned by Yastremska

World number two Coco Gauff became the most prominent seed to exit Wimbledon during the first two days of the tournament, falling in straight sets to Ukraine`s Dayana Yastremska.

Just a month after securing her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Gauff appeared far from her best form. Her serve, in particular, let her down, resulting in nine double faults and four service breaks against her in the 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 defeat.

A visibly emotional Gauff commented after the match, “I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came after [the French Open]. I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it.”

She added, “I definitely was struggling in the locker room. I don’t like losing. I just feel a little bit disappointed in how I showed up today.”

Despite her memorable breakthrough at the All England Club in 2019 at the age of 15, where she reached the fourth round after defeating Venus Williams, the grasscourt major has been her least successful, being the only Grand Slam where she hasn`t reached the semi-finals.

Facing the world No. 42 Yastremska was a challenging first-round draw, but one Gauff was still expected to overcome. Instead, this defeat marks only the third time in her career, and the second time at Wimbledon (the previous being in 2023), that the 21-year-old has exited a major tournament in the first round.

Across the initial two days at Wimbledon, a total of 23 seeded players – 13 men and 10 women – were eliminated. This matches the highest number of early seed exits in a Grand Slam since 32 players per singles draw were first seeded in 2001.

Djokovic Advances After Late Scare

Novak Djokovic secured a hard-fought, late-night victory over Alexandre Muller on Centre Court, setting up a second-round clash with Great Britain`s Dan Evans on Thursday.

The 38-year-old, aiming for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title, required a medical timeout after losing the second-set tie-breaker to the French world No. 41. However, he ultimately rallied to win 6-1, 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 6-2, clinching the match just before the 11 pm curfew.

Earlier, Dan Evans ended a four-year wait for a Wimbledon victory by defeating fellow Briton Jay Clarke 6-1, 7-5, 6-2. This win, achieved at 4:48 pm, made him the eighth British player to reach the second round, the highest single-day tally for British players in the Open era at the Championships, and secured his meeting with Djokovic.

“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 number one Jannik Sinner comfortably advanced, needing just 1 hour and 48 minutes to defeat his Italian compatriot Luca Nardi 6-4, 6-3, 6-0.

American fifth seed Taylor Fritz won a marathon five-setter against France`s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, concluding 6-7 (8-10), 6-7 (8-10), 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 in a match suspended from Monday evening.

Seventh seed Lorenzo Musetti, last year`s semi-finalist, was defeated by Georgia`s Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Third Seeds Zverev and Pegula Also Knocked Out

Adding to the list of major upsets on Tuesday were the world number three seeds in both the men`s and women`s draws: Alexander Zverev and Jessica Pegula.

Alexander Zverev resumed his match against Arthur Rinderknech on Centre Court after play was stopped Monday with the score tied at one set each. However, the Frenchman ultimately prevailed 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4.

This marks Zverev`s first opening-round defeat at a Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2019 and means the 28-year-old is still seeking his first major title after 38 attempts.

Jessica Pegula struggled to explain her unexpected Wimbledon exit, crediting the “insane” performance of her opponent, Elisabetta Cocciaretto. The American, who was 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 stated, “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`s victory was a turn-around from their previous meeting at Wimbledon in 2023, where Pegula had won comfortably in the third round.

Defending Champion Krejcikova Survives Scare

Defending women`s singles champion Barbora Krejcikova faced a test from promising 20-year-old Alexandra Eala. Krejcikova lost the first set but found her rhythm to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Eala is the first player from the Philippines to compete in the main draw at Wimbledon in the Open era, and Krejcikova praised her young opponent`s performance.

“I mean, what the hell [kind of tennis] she played in the first set?” the reigning champion remarked. “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, the eighth seed, secured a solid 7-5, 6-1 victory over Polina Kudermetova, showing positive signs despite her lack of prior Wimbledon success. Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva also advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 win against Mayar Sherif.

The women`s draw also lost its fifth seed, Qinwen Zheng of China, the Olympic champion. Zheng`s 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 defeat to Czech doubles specialist Katerina Siniakova marks her third consecutive first-round exit at Wimbledon.

Elsewhere, US 10th seed Emma Navarro defeated two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-1 in exactly an hour. This match marked Kvitova`s final appearance at Wimbledon before her retirement.

Queen`s champion Tatjana Maria, a semi-finalist in 2022, also exited early, losing in three sets to American Katie Volynets.