The American duo of Coco Gauff and Venus Williams were the big names that crashed out of Wimbledon on the opening day on Monday.
Seventh seed Gauff lost to fellow American Sofia Kenin 4-6, 6-4, 2-6 while 43-year-old Williams lost 4-6, 2-6 to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
An early break in the third game of the first set saw Kenin win the set. Gauff however hit back in the second set, making the crucial break at 5-4. The 19-year-old could however not deliver in the third and final set as she was broken in the first and seventh game to hand Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, her first win in a Grand Slam match since 2021.
Stunning Sofia ????
Qualifier @SofiaKenin prevails in a high-quality battle against fellow American Coco Gauff, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 ???? #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/vgewwv2RSl
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2023
Gauff, reacting after the game said she was “frustrated and disappointed”.
“I knew coming in she would play with a lot of motivation,” she stated. “It was all about how I would play today and how I would take care of my end of the court. I did in certain moments, but obviously not enough.
“Right now I’m very frustrated and disappointed,” she added. “It makes me want to work even harder. I feel like I have been working hard, but clearly it’s not enough.
“I have to go back to the drawing board.”
Williams meanwhile had to endure a lot pain as she was dispatched by Svitolina in one hour, 29 minutes. The five-time Wimbledon champion started brightly, breaking early as she won the first two games in the first set.
She however slipped on the grass and suffered a painful injury as her right knee was heavily strapped before the match began. She took a medical timeout and continued the game but was unable to match her Ukrainian opponent. Williams admitted that she was in a lot of pain and could not focus on the match.
Moving on to the second round.@ElinaSvitolina beats five-time champion Venus Williams, 6-4, 6-3#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/0JXnOuFxFX
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2023
“Grass is inherently going to be slippery. You’re going to fall at some point. It was just bad luck for me,” she said after the match.
“I started the match perfectly. I was literally killing it, then I got killed by the grass.
“It’s not fun right now. I felt like I was in great form coming into this tournament, and great form in the match.
“It’s all very shocking at the moment. This is sports. I’m hitting the ball well.
“Hopefully I can just figure out what’s happening with me and move forward.”
Williams has been faced with injuries for a huge part of her successful career and was offered a wildcard entry into Wimbledon having played very little tennis this year.
