Coco Gauff travelled to Wimbledon with real title aspirations but was stunned in the first round.
After Gauff won the French Open in June, many picked her as a favorite to add another Grand Slam title to her collection at SW19.
It wasn’t to be, however, as Gauff lost to Ukrainian star Dayana Yastremska in her opening match 6-7, 6-1
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The American just couldn’t get going against Yastremska, as she lost a first-round match at a major for the first time in two years.
Reacting to Gauff’s shock Wimbledon exit, one of the biggest names on the ATP Tour shared his thoughts.
Nick Kyrgios says Coco Gauff looked ‘overwhelmed’ against Dayana Yastremska at Wimbledon
During the latest episode of ‘Wimbledon Unfiltered with Nick Kyrgios’, 2022 finalist Nick Kyrgios gave his verdict on the 21-year-old’s first-round defeat.
“When was the last time we saw Coco Gauff… she looked a bit overwhelmed yesterday,” he said.
“She lost a tight first set, then when it rains, it pours.
“She couldn’t get back into it, at any other Slam she may have fought back, but here, [Dayana] Yastremska just came out swinging and just trampled all over her.”
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Winning a tense first set in a tiebreaker 7-3, Yastremska pushed ahead in the second, winning comfortably on Court One.
As has been the case previously, it was Gauff’s serve that let her down against Yastremska, making three times as many double faults as her opponent.
Serving stats from Coco Gauff v Dayana Yastremska
Perhaps Gauff was overwhelmed, fresh off the back of her French Open win, but how have other major winners performed at their next Grand Slam tournaments?
How do Grand Slam winners perform at their next major tournaments?
Since the beginning of the 2023 season, no Grand Slam winner on the women’s side has won their next major tournament.
On several occasions, the major winner suffered an early exit in the next Slam, just as Gauff did at Wimbledon.
Grand Slam winners since 2023 and how they performed at their next major
World number one Sabalenka came closest to going ‘back-to-back’ at the Australian Open this January when she reached the final in Melbourne, having won the US Open title at the end of 2024.
Losing out in a thriller on Rod Laver Arena, Sabalenka was beaten by Madison Keys 3-6, 6-2, 5-7.
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The last player to win consecutive Grand Slams on the WTA Tour was Naomi Osaka, who did so twice.
- Naomi Osaka won 2018 US Open and 2019 Australian Open
- Naomi Osaka won 2020 US Open and 2021 Australian Open
With the feat as rare as it is, maybe Gauff shouldn’t be too concerned that things didn’t quite work out for her at the All England Club.
She’ll be in with a great chance to bounce back at the US Open in August, an event she won two years ago.
It will be interesting to see if the pattern continues, and if it does, this year’s Wimbledon champion could be in trouble at Flushing Meadows.