Coco Gauff's Wimbledon campaign ended in tears yesterday as the second seed crashed out in the first round, losing 7-6, 6-1 to Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska on Court 1.
The American became the eighth top-10 seed to fall in the opening round, creating history as the highest number of first-round exits from top-ten seeds at a single Grand Slam in the Open Era.
Gauff joined Alexander Zverev, Jessica Pegula, Qinwen Zheng, Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, Daniil Medvedev and Paula Badosa in suffering shock defeats.
The 21-year-old also became only the third French Open women's singles champion to lose in Wimbledon's first round in the Open Era.
Coco Gauff was furious with herself after her shock Wimbledon defeat
BBC
Yastremska, ranked 42nd in the world, needed just one hour and 19 minutes to secure victory over the world number two.
Gauff's serve completely deserted her as she struck nine double faults throughout the match, including crucial ones in the first-set tiebreak.
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The American managed only six winners compared to Yastremska's 16, struggling to find any offensive rhythm.
After racing to a 5-2 lead in the opening set, Yastremska watched Gauff battle back to 5-5 before dominating the tiebreak 7-3.
The Ukrainian's confidence soared after winning the first set, and she overwhelmed Gauff with powerful groundstrokes and booming serves to cruise through the second set 6-1.
Fighting back tears during her post-match press conference, Gauff admitted she had been "struggling in the locker room" after the defeat.
"I don't like losing. I know my team is gonna tell me 'you did well at Roland Garros. Don't be so upset.' But I don't really like losing," the American said, her voice breaking with emotion.
Gauff expressed disappointment with her performance, particularly in crucial tiebreak moments: "I could've been a bit better in those tough tiebreaker moments. Especially after Roland Garros where I feel like I learned a lot in those tiebreakers."
She added: "Maybe losing here first round isn't the worst thing in the world because I have some time to reset. But yeah it definitely sucks."
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Coco Gauff joined Alexander Zverev, Jessica Pegula, Qinwen Zheng, Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, Daniil Medvedev and Paula Badosa in suffering shock defeats
REUTERS
Gauff revealed that being moved from Centre Court to Court 1 disrupted her pre-match routine, though she insisted it didn't affect the match outcome.
"I found out at about 6:35pm (BST) that we would not be on before 7:30pm. At that point I hadn't really eaten yet," she explained.
The American also acknowledged the mental challenges of transitioning from her French Open triumph to Wimbledon: "I feel like mentally I was a bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards. I didn't feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it."
Despite the disappointment, Gauff praised Yastremska's performance and looked ahead to the US Open series.
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