The 2025 Wimbledon Championships delivered a seismic shock on July 1, as world No. 2 Coco Gauff, fresh off her French Open triumph, suffered a stunning first-round defeat to Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska. The 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 loss on No. 1 Court marked Gauff’s earliest Grand Slam exit in two years and sent ripples through the tennis world. Australian star Nick Kyrgios, a 2022 Wimbledon finalist and outspoken commentator, offered a candid take on the upset during his podcast, *Wimbledon Unfiltered with Nick Kyrgios*. “When was the last time we saw Coco Gauff… she looked a bit overwhelmed yesterday,” Kyrgios remarked, capturing the essence of Gauff’s struggle. “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.”
Gauff, the 21-year-old American prodigy, entered Wimbledon as the second seed, riding high after her second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros just weeks earlier. Her 2019 breakthrough at Wimbledon, where she stunned Venus Williams at 15 and reached the fourth round, had made her a fan favorite at the All England Club. Yet, grass has remained her kryptonite, the only major where she’s yet to reach the semifinals. Against Yastremska, ranked No. 42, Gauff’s game unraveled in a flurry of errors—nine double faults and 29 unforced errors compared to just six winners. “I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came after [the French Open],” a tearful Gauff admitted in her post-match press conference. “I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it.”
Yastremska, by contrast, was electrifying. The Ukrainian, who reached the Nottingham Open final on grass earlier in June, played with fearless aggression, her forehand and backhand skidding low across the slick surface under the closed roof. “I was really on fire,” Yastremska said, her voice brimming with pride. “Playing against Coco, it is something special. She’s a great player, great person, we have a very good relationship.” Her performance was a masterclass in seizing the moment, capitalizing on Gauff’s shaky serve and mounting errors. After a tight first set that Gauff pushed to a tiebreak, Yastremska dominated the second, breaking serve three times to seal the biggest win of her career in just 78 minutes.
Kyrgios’s analysis pinpointed the unique challenges of Wimbledon’s grass courts, where aggressive play often trumps defensive prowess. “At any other Slam she may have fought back,” he noted, suggesting Gauff’s defensive style, her hallmark on clay and hard courts, was ill-suited to counter Yastremska’s relentless offense. Four-time Grand Slam champion Jim Courier echoed this sentiment, calling Gauff the best defender in women’s tennis but noting, “Offence beats defence and it almost always does if you play at the same level.” Yastremska’s ability to dictate rallies, particularly with her precise, low-bouncing shots, exposed Gauff’s discomfort on grass, where her topspin-heavy forehand struggled against balls staying below her knees.
The upset was part of a broader wave of shocks at Wimbledon 2025, with 23 seeds—13 men and 10 women—falling in the first round, tying a Grand Slam record since 32-player seeding began in 2001. Alongside Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula fell to world No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto in 58 minutes, while No. 5 Zheng Qinwen and No. 9 Paula Badosa also exited early. Gauff’s loss marked her as only the third woman in the Open Era to win the French Open and crash out in Wimbledon’s first round, following Justine Henin (2005) and Francesca Schiavone (2010). “I think it’s just changing my playing style a little bit, which is difficult,” Gauff said, reflecting on her grass-court struggles. “I have faith that if I can make these adjustments, I can do well here.”
For Yastremska, the victory was a personal triumph. Despite losing all three prior matches to Gauff on clay, she thrived on grass, drawing confidence from her 2016 Wimbledon junior final appearance on the same court. “This court brings me a lot of nice memories,” she said, celebrating her advance to face Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova in the second round. Meanwhile, Gauff, who led the WTA in double faults in 2024 with 430, faces a critical moment to regroup. “I’m trying to be positive,” she said, vowing to learn from the defeat. With the US Open looming, where she triumphed in 2023, Gauff’s resilience will be tested as she aims to reclaim her form on a surface that suits her game.
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