Wimbledon 2025: World No2 Coco Gauff sets sights on US Open after suffering shock first-round loss
Coco Gauff vowed to make changes in a bid to find the formula to Wimbledon success.
The second seed was the latest big name to fall in a dramatic first round at SW19, with fellow American Jessica Pegula and Qinwen Zheng sent packing earlier on Tuesday.
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Across the men's and women's singles draws, eight top-ten seeds fell at the first hurdle, the most of any Grand Slam in the Open Era.
Gauff reached the Wimbledon fourth round as a 15-year-old but has not bettered that since and her struggles continued here.
Dayana Yastremska took full advantage to secure a 7-6 6-1 win on No1 Court, with Gauff admitting she had struggled to adapt to the surface.
Gauff won the French Open last month but her grass-court preparations consisted of an opening defeat in Berlin.
'I think it's just changing my playing style a little bit, which is difficult, because for me it's like I approach clay and I play this one way for however long clay season is, six to eight weeks, or I don't know,' she said.
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'Then I feel like when I go on hard, I don't have to change as much, but I still have to adjust it a little bit. I know on grass I do. I feel like by the time I find it, it's already time to play. It's difficult, but I don't know.
'I have faith that if I can make these adjustments, I can do well here. I really do want to do well here. I'm not someone who wants to write myself off grass this early in my career, but I definitely need to make changes if I want to be successful here.'
There were cheers on No1 Court following Jack Draper's win, as it was announced that Gauff and Yastremska would be moved from their scheduled slot on Centre Court.
But those same fans could not rally Gauff into a comeback as the second set slipped away in double quick time.
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The 21-year-old managed only six winners compared to 29 unforced errors, and struggled with her serve throughout as the double fault tally reached nine.
Gauff will now turn her attention to the hard-court swing on home soil, culminating in a bid for a second US Open title at Flushing Meadows later this summer.
'I don't really like losing,' she said. 'I don't know, I just feel a little bit disappointed in how I showed up today. I feel like I could have been a little bit better in those tough tie-breaker moments, especially after Roland Garros, where I felt like I learned a lot in those tie-breakers.
'Yeah, I mean, obviously I'm not going to dwell on this too long because I want to do well at US Open. Maybe losing here first round isn't the worst thing in the world because I have time to reset.'
Gauff began to tear up, as she added: 'Yeah, definitely sucks.'
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