Coco Gauff stunned in Wimbledon first round, falling to unranked Dayana Yastremska in straight sets
Yastremska played bold, picking up several unforced errors, but also outplaying Gauff on the attack. The Ukrainian dominated in the second set as Gauff's confidence plummeted, taking the match rather easily with a 7-6(3), 6-1 win.
Gauff, meanwhile, struggled especially with her serve, as the young American appeared unusually overwhelmed by nerves. Gauff had a shocking nine double faults, plus 29 unforced errors; most of those errors came in the latter half of the match, as her game fell apart.
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The two-time Grand Slam winner went down early in the match, with Yastremska going up 5-2 in the first set. But Gauff launched a comeback, winning the next three games and eventually forcing a tiebreak.
However, the tiebreak didn't go as well for the American, as she double faulted twice to give the Ukrainian an edge. Yastremska held strong to win the tiebreak.
Gauff started the second set with some energy. As Yastremska went up 2-0, Gauff fought back to earn a game. But then Gauff's confidence seemed to completely abandon her. Yastremska won the next four games to take the unexpectedly easy upset.
With the victory, Yastremska will now advance to play Anastasia Zakharova in the second round on Thursday.
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Grass has never been Gauff's strongest surface. The American has never made it past the fourth round at Wimbledon. But it's still a shockingly poor performance from Gauff, who exits a Grand Slam tournament in the first round for just the fourth time in her career.
It's reminiscent of Wimbledon in 2023, where Gauff was bounced out of the first round after losing to unranked American Sofia Kenin. One month later, Gauff won the 2023 U.S. Open, earning her first Grand Slam title.
Gauff isn't the only high-ranking American to fall early in this year's Wimbledon: Jessica Pegula, the world No. 3, was eliminated earlier on Tuesday after a first-round loss to Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
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