Jessica Pegra was on top of the tennis world on Saturday, so she was standing on the centre court in Bad Homburg, Germany.
She just won the title – ninth in her career and second in grass – followed the final 6-4, 7-5 performance against Iga Swiatek. The third world number one arrived at Wimbledon hours later as one of their favourites to win the Rosswater dish of Venus at the All England Club.
However, on Tuesday, Pegra’s first major title, or even a substantial run, crashed as she lost to Elisabetta Cossialetto in the first round, losing 6-2, 6-3 in just 58 minutes.
“It’s really a shame to lose,” Pegra said after the match, disappointed. “I haven’t lost my first round of slams for a very long time, so it sucks.”
However, Pegra was not the only top player to lose in the highly unpredictable opening round at the All-England club. In fact, following the end of the day, Coco Gauff, the second seed and recently crowned the French Open Championship, she wasn’t even losing out on top three women. Pegra wasn’t even the only third seed on Tuesday, as Alexander Zverev also joined her later.
Ultimately, eight top 10 seeds (four women and four men) were eliminated in the first two days of play, setting the most records in majors during the open era. It is also the first of the top three women who lost in the opening round of the slams during the open era.
And on the men’s side, 13 seed players were unable to advance to the second round – since the current seed format began in 2001, they have tied the previously set mark at the 2004 Australia Open (that number could be even higher as Nakajima Brandon’s game has been suspended due to Tuesday night curfew and is expected to end on Wednesday).
“Confusion is contagious,” former player and current coach Brad Gilbert said on Tuesday’s broadcast. “If you’re sowing, beware before you leave that locker room.”
So exactly who got home early? And what does their exit mean for those who remain in the draw? We break it down.
woman
No. 2 Coco Gauff
Losing to Dayana Yasutermska, 7-6 (3), 6-1
Just a few weeks after winning the second career major of her career at the French Open, all eyes were at 21-year-old Gouf in Wimbledon. She never made any progress past the fourth round at the All-England Club and lost the opening round match of her only lead-in event in Grass in Berlin, but she was one of her favorites to win the title.
But that wasn’t the case. After being initially scheduled on Centre Court, Gauff played in the final match of the day in the first place court, first went down 5-2 in the opening set, finding a way to fight back and force a tiebreak. However, Yasteremska let her out of there and never allowed Gauff to get a chance to return to it.
Gouf was increasingly struggling with her serve and her nerves – with nine double faults on the day and 29 forced errors – and Yastremska remained offensive throughout the match. Gough later told reporters that he was “a little overwhelming” with all the attention that came after his victory in Paris.
“This is the first time I’ve had to play Wimbledon with a victory,” Goff said. “I definitely learned a lot of things I wasn’t trying to do.
“But yeah, she played great, meaning I saw the draw and knew it would be a tough game for me.
“I had a chance, but yes, that’s it.”
Wimbledon remains the only major that Gough has not reached the quarterfinals.
Currently ranked 42nd, Yasternska made her fourth appearance at the All Ingland Club in 2019 and took the semi-finals at the Australian Open in 2024. Gouf’s exit is advantageous for seed Sophia Kenin, No. 28, who may have played her in the third round, and for Dahlia Kasatokina, No. 16 or Lud Mirasam Sonova, No. 19, who was the logarithm of the fourth round. No. 8 seed Iga Swiatek and No. 11 seed and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina are now clear favourites for quarter.
No. 3 Jessica Pegula
Losing to Elisabetta Cocchialett, 6-2, 6-3
In attendance in the match, Pegra has not lost in his first round in the slam since 2020 and has been one of the most consistent players in the majors over the past few seasons. Cocchialett, 116th place, beat by Pegra at his only previous meeting at Wimbledon in 2023, few people thought he would either pass an early exit in more than five years or stop the current grass momentum.
However, according to Pegra, Cocchialetto played “Absolutely incredible tennis,” becoming the first Italian to beat a top three seed at Wimbledon during his open days.
“Do you think I played the best game I’ve ever had? No. But I definitely don’t think I’m playing badly. I wasn’t playing that bad,” Pegra said. “She just hit a shot, wanted it, served big, high proportions, made a big second serve, redirected the ball, and it was her day.
Cocchiaret will consider playing another American, Katy Volinette, in the second round on Thursday, to reach the 32nd round at the All-England club for the second time in her career. It’s a great opportunity for both Cocchialetto and Volinette, but it’s potentially easier for third-round opponent Ekaterina Alexandrova, who seeded No. 18, to the second week. Pegula’s exit will be the best seed left in the quarter when Mirra Andreeva tied No. 7. It could also be welcomed by Swiatek, who is in half the draw after a biased, bad Homburg meeting.
No. 5 Zheng Qinwen
What’s lost is Katerina Siniakova, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1
Zheng, 22, won Olympic Gold. They have reached the Australian Open Finals and the quarterfinals at the French Open and the US Open in the past two years, but have not achieved the same success with All England Clubs and Grass. While she reached the third round in her debut at the 2022 tournament, Tuesday marked the exit for the third round at Wimbledon.
Currently ranked 81st in singles but world number one in doubles, Siniakova previously beat Zheng twice in grass but fell into a 5-3 deficit in Tuesday’s opening set. However, she fought back and found a way to insist on the first set. Zheng leveled her up in the second set, but the decision makers were all Siniakova, jumping to a 5-0 lead.
“If I could put my service game, and more first serves on the court today than I would today, I think I could have (had) my chances of winning the match,” Zheng said later. “I give her too many chances, especially when it’s my service game, and she breaks me in the third set. That’s what I think is very dangerous to play with grass because you don’t have much chance of coming back.
“I think she played well. I didn’t play enough today. I gave her a lot of simple mistakes.”
Three-time Wimbledon doubles champion Siniakova will face four major winners in the second round, Naomi Osaka. Neither of them have made it past the third round in the tournament, but the winner will have the opportunity to do it against No. 31 Seed Ashlyn Krueger or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. No. 4 seed Jasmine Paolini is the only top 10 seed remaining in the draw quarter, with Siniakova/Osaka/Krueger/Pavlyuchenkova likely to meet her in the quarterfinals. Is this the time to go deep at Wimbledon in Osaka? stay tuned.
No. 9 Polabadosa
Losing to Katie Boulter, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
Badosa, who played on centre court with the second British player (and the number 43 in the world), knew it would not be easy to advance to the second round. And the two fought almost two hours in front of the rap crowd on Monday, with Boulter pulling away by the decider.
Previously having a 3-16 record against the top 10 players, Boulter later called it one of the “best wins” of her career.
“Centre Court Wimbledon as Britt isn’t going to get much better against the top 10 players,” Boulter said. “It’s one of the reasons I play tennis, to win such a match and play the best game in the world.”
Boulter will take on the Lucky Loser Solana Sierra, currently ranked No. 101 on Wednesday. Boulter or Sierra will then take on No. 22 Seed Donna Vekic or Cristina Bucsa in the third round. The Madison Keys, the number six seed and Australia’s open champion, will be waiting for that winner in the fourth round. The predicted quarterfinal clash between Key and No. 1 Arena Sabalenka appears to be on track throughout the round.
Other sowed women who died in the first round: No. 15 Karolina Muchova, no. 20 Jelena Ostapenko, No. 25 Magdalena Frech, No. 26 Marta Kostyuk, No. 32McCartney Kessler
male
No. 3 Alexander Zverev
Lost to Arthur Rinderknech, 7-6(3), 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4
He had never passed the fourth round before, but Zverev arrived at Wimbledon, and reached the finals and semifinals, reaching the semifinals in two lead-in events at Grass. With the tournament going, he was poised to get his best results with a strong run and perhaps an All-England club.
However, the 29-year-old Rinderknech, currently ranked 72nd, had other plans.
In the match that began Monday but was suspended due to a curfew and concluded on Tuesday, Rinderknech was dominant in the net, scoring 44 of 55 points, controlling his pace and momentum for the majority of the match. After 4 hours and 40 minutes of play, Rinderknech won the biggest match of his life, with Zverev still retaining his position as many men, including Andy Roddick, and believes that the best player on the tour has never won a major.
“I don’t even know where to start,” the exhausted Linderneck told the crowd. “I feel the same way as you guys, so it definitely starts with the crowd.
“I’m happy that the match is over.”
Rinderknech will face Lucky Loser Cristian Garin on Wednesday, so there won’t be much time to rest. Currently, the draw section is relatively wide open, with 17th seed Karen Khachanov as the only seed player remaining in half that quarter, and No. 5 seed Taylor Fritz as the only player to be seeded into the left top 10 overall.
No. 7 Lorenzo Musetti
Losing to Nikoloz Basilashvili, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
23-year-old Musetti, who reached the first major semifinals of his career at Wimbledon in 2024 and began another semifinal at the French Open last month, was high hopes for the tournament. However, due to a leg injury in Paris, Musetti was unable to play at the Kusaguchi event before Wimbledon. And rust appeared on Monday.
“I had a hard time feeling comfortable in court from the start,” Musetti said after his defeat. “When I went to the game, I really lost focus and didn’t respond to the ball when I came out of my serve. It seems like even the lateral movements that I normally know how to move, I’ve never played on this surface today. It’s a really bad performance.”
Former top 20 player Basirashvili is currently ranked 126th, with 48 winners after qualifying, and only took 2 hours and 25 minutes to secure the victory.
Basilashvili, 33, will face another Italian from Lorenzo Sonego on Wednesday. The winners of the first round match between 2015 Wimbledon Junior Champion Reilly Opelka, or No. 29 Seed Brandon Nakashima and Bu Yunchaookete, are waiting in the third round. This could potentially be against one of these players in the fourth round and be a win-win news for No. 10 seed Ben Shelton, with the opportunity to advance to the first Wimbledon quarterfinals.
No. 8 Holger Rune
Nicholas Jarry lost 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
For the two sets on Monday, it appeared that Rune, the 2023 Wimbledon quarterfinalist, would appear in the second round. And even if Jarry, a qualifier ranked No. 143, leveled up and forced the final decider, certainly supported Rune – Jarry never won a five-set match and was riding a seven-game major streak.
But that wasn’t important on Monday.
Rune called out the trainer in the fourth set to prolong the line due to a right knee injury, and partially cited the loss afterwards. He couldn’t hide his disappointment when talking to reporters after the game.
“If I played normally, I hit him 9 out of 10 beating and respecting Nicholas Jarry,” Rune said. “Obviously, using your knees wasn’t too easy today, but yeah, that wasn’t great.”
Jarry plays American learner Tien with the chance to reach the third round at Wimbledon in the career awaited by American Jenson Brooksby or teenage Phenom Joao Fonseca. No one benefits from the loss of a rune above Rune’s 12th seed Francis Tierfour, who would have probably played the rune in the fourth round. Fresh from his first appearance in France’s Open Quarter Finals, he now has a better opportunity to arrive at his first Wimbledon quarter quarter.
No. 9 Daniil Medvedev
Benjamin Bonji lost 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-2
It was a tough season for Medvedev, the previous No. 1 and 2021 US Open champion. In all three majors so far this season, he has only won one game (at the Australian Open).
Reaching the previous two Wimbledon semifinals wasn’t what he wanted for his 2025 All-England club run.
On Monday with Bonjoj, the world’s 64th issue, Medvedev was handed the early exit in the tournament in seven appearances. He later told reporters he “not too worried” about his recent major outcomes, or the state of his game and rankings, and he appears to be ready for the next phase of the season.
“I’m very disappointed with the fact that it’s lost (but) it’s fine,” Medvedev said. “Now, I feel like I can go back to the top 10, like I did on the hard court. I honestly feel like I’ll be able to go back to the top 10, like I did today. That’s one outcome issue.
Bonji is currently taking part in his third round at Wimbledon, but has never made any progress beyond the round. He will have the opportunity to do that against Jordan Thompson on Wednesday – and there will be an opportunity to go further as wildcard Arthur Ferry or Luciano Dardelli are waiting for 32 rounds.
Other sowed men who died in the first round: when. 16 Francisco Cerundolo, No. 18Ugo Humbert, No. 20Alexei Popyrin, no. 24 Stefanos Tsitsipas (retired due to injury), no. 27 Denis Shapovalov, No. 28Alexander Bublik, no. 30 Alex Michaelsen, no. 31 Three Griekspoors, No. 32 Matteo Berrettinin
