Wimbledon Sees Top Seeds Tumble in Early Upsets
Gauff, Pegula, and Zheng All Suffer Shock Defeats
Wimbledon has already delivered a series of stunning upsets, with several top seeds unexpectedly crashing out of the tournament. The early exits have blown the women’s draw wide open, leaving fans and pundits alike to reassess their predictions for the title.
Gauff Stunned by Yastremska
World No. 2 Coco Gauff, fresh off her French Open triumph, was defeated by Dayana Yastremska in straight sets, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1. Despite nine double faults by Gauff and a wobble from Yastremska while serving for the first set, the Ukrainian ultimately prevailed.
Yastremska said the switch to Court No.1, where she played the junior final, “gave me more chance — I played the junior final on this court [and lost] there are lots of memories.”
Pegula Ousted by Unseeded Cocciaretto
Third-seeded Jessica Pegula, fresh from winning the Bad Homburg warm-up event, also suffered a shocking defeat, losing to Elisabetta Cocciaretto. The unheralded Italian dismissed Pegula 6-2, 6-3.
Cocciaretto said she told herself to “be more aggressive and go for it, don’t think about losing or winning the point”.
“For this to happen today, it’s disappointing. I don’t know how else to put it,”
said Pegula, who had 5 winners and 24 unforced errors.
“I’m upset that I wasn’t able to turn anything around. But at the same time, I do feel like she played kind of insane. Hats off to her.”
Zheng Qinwen Falls to Siniakova
Fifth-seeded Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen also exited Wimbledon early, losing to Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. This marked Zheng’s third consecutive first-round exit at Wimbledon.
Siniakova is ranked 81st in the world but a successful doubles player, with seven of her 10 major doubles titles won with Krejcikova.
Other Notable Results
Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova recovered from a set down to beat Alexandra Eala 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. However, fellow Czech player and 15th seed Karolina Muchova lost to Xinyu Wang 7-5, 6-2.
Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek, Clara Tauson, Mirra Andreeva, Elena Rybakina, and Sofia Kenin progressed. Magdelena Frech, Marta Kostek and Magda Linette lost their matches.
On her final appearance at Wimbledon, two-time champion Petra Kvitova lost to 10th seed Emma Navarro 6-3, 6-1. According to the WTA, this was Kvitova’s 15th appearance at Wimbledon.
Looking Ahead
With so many top seeds eliminated, the path may seem clear for world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Nevertheless, the upsets have given many players the belief that they can seize the opportunity to win the title.
