Coco Gauff pledged to do things differently next time after crashing out of Wimbledon in the first round on Tuesday, just weeks after winning the French Open.
The US World No. 2 was beaten 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 by Ukranian World No. 42 Dayana Yastremska. Gauff, who has won two majors, was expected to make a strong run at the All England Club after her triumph at Roland Garros in June.
Coco’s earliest exit
However, instead of building on her success on the Paris clay, the 21-year-old endured her earliest Grand Slam exit since another first-round loss at Wimbledon in 2023.
“I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards [following the French Open triumph], so I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it,” said Gauff.
“But it’s the first time in this experience of, like, coming off a win and having to play Wimbledon. I definitely learned a lot of what I would and would not do again,” she added.
When pressed on what steps she might take in the future, she said she felt she would consider more grass-court tennis in the run-up to Wimbledon.
“I maybe could have used more matches. I think it’s about trying to learn whether it’s better to train more and maybe play Bad Homburg or Eastbourne [both grass-court tournaments]. I think when that time comes around again, I’ll approach Wimbledon differently,” said Gauff.
Round Four blues
Gauff has failed to get past the fourth round in each of her six visits to Wimbledon. She paid the price for an unusually error-strewn display featuring nine double-faults, 29 unforced errors and just six winners. Yastremska’s shock success extended an impressive recent run having made the finals at the Nottingham Open and the quarter-finals at Eastbourne in June.
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