TENNIS
What is Coco Gauff’s ranking in the WTA after her first-round exit at Wimbledon 2023?
The American is one of the most promising players in the WTA Tour, but things didn’t go her way at the All England Club.
After a good performance at the French Open in June, Coco Gauff was one of the tennis players to watch at Wimbledon, but the 19-year-old talent’s adventure at the All England Club came to an end sooner than expected.
The Atlanta-bred player, whose best result in a major was the Roland Garros final in 2022, suffered an early exit against compatriot Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion.
After the game, Gauff, with 33 unforced errors, admitted she didn’t play her best tennis and wasn’t as effective as she planned with her serve.
“I knew it was going to be a tough first round for me. I tried my best, but it wasn’t enough. I think I have a lot to work on if I want to improve from this”, she said.
“I definitely need to take care of my service games. I do think I’m a better server than her, but I think she took care more of the plus-ones and plus-twos a lot better than I did”, Gauff added.
A Top 10 goes down
Gauff’s defeat could probably be considered the biggest upset on Day 1, as the young American is the world No. 7 in the WTA rankings, while Kenin is currently ranked No. 128.
Despite being a Top 10 player, Gauff wasn’t able to impose her status on the court. Kenin, who was also a finalist at the French Open (2020), used her experience in big games to come out on top.
Gauff made her breakthrough at Wimbledon in 2019, She became the youngest player to qualify at the tournament, then defeated Venus Williams in the opening round, getting to the fourth round before losing to Simona Halep, who ended up winning the title.
Coco was one of four seeds to be eliminated on the opening day at Wimbledon. Along with Gauff, No.15 seed Liudmila Samsonova, No.24 seed Zheng Qinwen, and No.31 seed Mayar Sherif also suffered early exits.