The Peninsula Times - Gauff crashes out of Wimbledon on day of shocks

US second seed Gauff came to the All England Club with high hopes after winning the French Open last month but was beaten 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 by Ukranian world number 42 Dayana Yastremska.

Other high-profile casualties on day two of the grass-court Grand Slam were women's third seed Jessica Pegula and fifth seed Zheng Qinwen.

Instead of building on her success on the Paris clay, 21-year-old Gauff endured her earliest Grand Slam exit since another first-round loss at Wimbledon in 2023.

The two-time Grand Slam champion paid the price for an unusually error-strewn display featuring nine double-faults, 29 unforced errors and just six winners.

Earlier, US Open runner-up Pegula suffered a shock defeat against Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto, losing 6-2, 6-3 in just 58 minutes.

Pegula was followed out of the tournament by Olympic champion Zheng, who went down 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 against unheralded Katerina Siniakova.

Men's third seed Alexander Zverev also bowed out, beaten in five sets by French world number 72 Arthur Rinderknech, giving a bleak assessment of his state of mind after the match.

The German, who reached the Australian Open final earlier this year, suffered his earliest Grand Slam exit since 2019 after a marathon match that started on Monday evening.

Afterwards he made surprisingly frank comments, saying he was considering therapy to talk through his mental health issues.

"It's funny, I feel very alone out there at times," he said. "I struggle mentally. I've been saying that since after the Australian Open."

- Krejcikova digs deep -

It was a different story for Krejcikova, who came to Wimbledon with just six matches under her belt this year and was in grave danger after being outplayed by Philippines star Alexandra Eala in the first set.

But the two-time Grand Slam champion regrouped, cut her error count drastically and lost just three more games as she completed a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.

Krejcikova has endured a difficult time since defeating Italy's Jasmine Paolini in the final last year.

The 29-year-old was out of action this season until May after suffering a back injury and she pulled out of last week's Eastbourne Open before the quarter-finals with a thigh problem.

"I was in a lot of pain in my back and I didn't really know how my career was going to go," she said. "I'm super happy and super excited that I can be here and that I can play on such a great court."

Men's world number one Jannik Sinner brushed aside fellow Italian Luca Nardi on Court One with the minimum of fuss.

Unfazed by the scorching conditions, the three-time Grand Slam champion sealed a 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 win in just one hour and 48 minutes.

Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic was kept waiting until the evening to make his return to Centre Court as he targets a record 25th major.

The Serb starts his Wimbledon campaign against France's Alexandre Muller, ranked 41 in the world.

Djokovic has been tied with long-retired Margaret Court on 24 Grand Slam singles titles since 2023 but he believes his most realistic hope of a historic 25th win lies at the All England Club.

The veteran, who has lost the past two Wimbledon finals to Carlos Alcaraz, has the added incentive of pulling level with the retired Roger Federer, who won a record eight men's titles at the All England Club.

Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek swatted aside Russia's Polina Kudermetova 7-5, 6-1.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, handed a wildcard to compete, lost 6-3, 6-1 in an emotional farewell appearance against US 10th seed Emma Navarro.

There were also wins for men's fourth seed Jack Draper and fifth seed Taylor Fritz.

(M.Coetzee--TPT)