Coco Gauff being eliminated at the first hurdle of her bid for a third Grand Slam title was perhaps the biggest shock of a seismic couple of days at Wimbledon.
Entering the tournament off the back of her French Open glory over Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 2 crashed out of the Slam in a straight set defeat by Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska.
The contest lasted just one hour and 19 minutes.
Gauff’s exit marked the eighth player seeded in the top 10 to be eliminated in the first round of this year’s tournament, joining Jessica Pegula, Qinwen Zheng, Paula Badosa, Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, and Daniil Medvedev.
Following her shocking defeat to Yastremska 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, the 21-year-old was distraught in her post-match press conference, with tears streaming down her face.
The grass court has been a particular struggle for Gauff in her young career so far, with her only having ever reached the round of 16 at the All England Club, having done so on three occasions in 2019, 2021, and 2024.
“I think I would say whether I would play Berlin or not again, if that were to happen with the French Open, just ’cause I only practiced two days,” an emotional Gauff said.
“I don’t know, I just feel like the surface I maybe could have used more matches. It’s like finding the puzzle. I don’t like to play the week before. It’s a quick turnaround, so I think just trying to learn on whether it’s better to train more and maybe play Bad Homburg or Eastbourne.
“I think when that time comes around again or if it comes around again, I’ll approach it differently.”
