Coco Gauff’s Wimbledon campaign came to a shocking halt on Tuesday as the second seed and newly crowned French Open champion was knocked out in the first round by Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska. The 21-year-old American lost 6-7 (3/7), 1-6 in what was her earliest Grand Slam exit since her first-round defeat at the same venue a year ago.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Gauff, who had arrived at the All England Club full of confidence after her Roland Garros triumph, looked flat and unsettled on Centre Court. After losing a tight first set in a tiebreak, her game unravelled, allowing Yastremska, ranked 42 in the world, to race through the second.
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Speaking after the match, Gauff admitted that the quick turnaround from clay to grass had left her mentally and physically drained.
“I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards [following the French Open win], so I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it,” she said. “It’s the first time experiencing this – coming off a big win and then playing Wimbledon. I learned a lot about what I would and wouldn’t do again.”It capped a nightmare day for the women’s draw, with third seed Jessica Pegula and fifth seed Zheng Qinwen also crashing out in straight sets to lower-ranked opponents.
Later in the evening, seven-time champion Novak Djokovic took to Centre Court in pursuit of a record 25th Grand Slam title – but his own journey nearly hit an unexpected roadblock. Facing France’s Alexandre Muller, the Serbian legend breezed through the opening set before suffering a bout of illness that saw him drop the second in a tiebreak.“I went from feeling my absolute best for a set and a half to my absolute worst for about 45 minutes,” Djokovic revealed after winning 6-1, 6-7 (7/9), 6-2, 6-2. “Whether it was a stomach bug, I don’t know. I struggled with that, but the energy came back after some doctors’ miracle pills and I finished the match well.”Earlier in the day, defending women’s champion Barbora Krejcikova survived a scare before defeating Alexandra Eala in three sets. Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek, and Taylor Fritz all advanced comfortably, while Petra Kvitova bid an emotional farewell after a straight-sets loss to Emma Navarro.Men’s third seed Alexander Zverev also suffered a shock exit, falling in five gruelling sets to French world number 72 Arthur Rinderknech. The German, who was runner-up at the Australian Open earlier this year, endured his earliest Grand Slam defeat since 2019, with the marathon match stretching across two days after beginning late on Monday evening.
