America’s best shot on the women’s side of Wimbledon is back home after their first match in London. Second-seeded Kokogoff, who captured the second major and won the French Open last month, was expelled by Dayanaya Stromska in a straight set of 7-6, 6-1.
Gough failed to play at the same level of confidence that he showed this against Alina Sabalenka in the French final earlier this summer, playing from behind during the match. Gouf suffered a serious double fault with a tiebreaker to finish the first set. This is a big mistake that left Yastremska with the best opportunity.
Gouf withstanded nine double faults in the match and fell constantly 21-12 on the grass.
Heading for Wimbledon, Goff said he was “excited” for the opportunity at the third Grand Slam.
“Physically, I played tournaments last week and it wasn’t that good. Now I’m trying to focus on the grass and the basics of things like that,” Gouf said. “That’s why I’m so excited and I feel like I’m getting better every day.
Gauff’s lack of rhythm with the serve was then transformed into a series of shots that appeared in the second guess. Gouf was on defense throughout the game, losing her serve in the first game of the second set where Yastremska is not fooled by American consistency issues.
Commentator Chrissie Evert mentioned how fast Gauff is trying to play faster and the need to slow down and focus on point-to-points rather than speeding up the game. Gauff made three consecutive forehand errors in the fourth game of the second set, struggling to make adjustments with the shots she normally squashed.
Many of hers were usually well placed, offensive returns flat, with few lifts as they approached the net.
Golf reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year, but this time he didn’t find a shot of her. Yasternska ranks 42nd in the world, 23-14 overall this year before his career march against Gauff.
