Coco Gauff crushes qualifier Anca Todoni to reach Wimbledon third round

LONDON – Coco Gauff did not look at her imperious best under the roof on Wimbledon’s Court One on July 3 but she was always in control of an error-strewn second-round 6-2, 6-1 victory over Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni.

The US Open champion slipped and fell twice on the slick court and muttered to herself during the 66-minute match against an opponent ranked 140 places below her.

“I do think I could have played cleaner at some points but overall I’m happy to have got through to the third round,” Gauff said in an interview on court.

Second seed Gauff, a crowd favourite at Wimbledon after announcing her arrival on the big stage with a fourth-round run as a 15-year-old in 2019, produced 16 unforced errors in the match and managed to land only 43 per cent of her first serves.

But her nervous 19-year-old opponent hit 23 unforced errors and could not find her range against the fleet-footed American, who wrapped up the match with a drop shot that Todoni could only send wide.

Gauff, who suffered a humiliating first-round exit at the hands of compatriot Sofia Kenin in 2023, said she had learnt from that disappointment and from her triumph at the US Open to manage expectations and emotions.

“Overall, I just learnt about life a lot. What I do, I’m very passionate about but it’s not ever that serious,” she said.

“It’s a game, it’s sport. Sometimes the world can make you feel like there is so much pressure and expectation.”

The draw has opened up for Gauff after the first-day withdrawals of Belarusians Aryna Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, and former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka.

She will next play British qualifier Sonay Kartal.

However, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland still lurks ominously in the draw.

Despite some jittery service games early on, with the first four games featuring nine break points and both players dropping serve, it took Swiatek just 79 minutes to safely negotiate past the potential first-round banana skin and demolish 2020 Australian Open champion Kenin 6-3, 6-4 on July 2 under a closed Court One roof.

“It was a solid start and not an easy draw and I am glad to have the chance to play here again,” said the top seed, whose best showing here was a run to the quarter-finals in 2023.

“You can’t get slowly into a Grand Slam, you have to be ready straight away... on this surface it’s not about the result but about the progress and see if I can do better than last year.”

Next up for her is Petra Martic of Croatia.

In the men’s draw, defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz made a shaky start against unseeded Australian Aleksandar Vukic but moved through the gears to seal a 7-6 (7-5) 6-2, 6-2 win to reach the third round on July 3.

Alcaraz broke for a 4-2 lead as Vukic miscued an overhead smash at the net but the Spaniard handed the advantage back to his 69th-ranked opponent three games later and was broken again in the opening set.

He recovered to force a tiebreak, where he took a healthy 5-1 lead, but allowed Vukic to win three straight points only to raise his level again and take the set as Spanish fans breathed a sigh of relief on Court One.

The French Open champion, who is bidding for a fourth Grand Slam title, did not give Vukic any more opportunities and closed out the second set quickly before easing through the third. He will next face 29th seed Frances Tiafoe.

Things did not go so well for eighth seed Casper Ruud of Norway, with the three-time Grand Slam finalist exiting in the second round after losing to Italy’s Fabio Fognini 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3.

Meanwhile, two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray will team up with fellow Briton Emma Raducanu in the mixed doubles tournament after the pair were awarded a wild card, organisers said on July 3.

Murray, 37, is playing in his final Wimbledon but pulled out of his singles opener against Czech Tomas Machac on July 2 due to a back problem.

Murray is also competing in the men’s doubles with his brother Jamie and they face Australians Rinky Hijikata and John Peers in the first round on July 4. REUTERS