by Jessica Pegula number three fought to explain her shock -Wimbledon exit when she praised the “crazy” performance of the opponent Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
The US Open second of last year crashed in just 58 minutes after a 6-2 defeat against the Italian world number 116.
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Pegula finished third and became the highest victim of women’s tongness when it comes to Cocciaretto, the greatest victory of her career.
When asked what went wrong, the 31-year-old American, who lost in the first round of a Grand Slam since the French Open 2020: “I don’t know. She played absolutely incredible tennis.
“I think I played the best game ever? No. But I definitely don’t think I played badly.
“It is really a crap. I haven’t lost the first round of a slam in a long time, that’s shit.
“I am upset that I couldn’t turn anything around. But at the same time I have the feeling that she somehow played crazy. Hats off her. A great praise to her that she played at a high level that I couldn’t bring today.”
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Cocciaretto, who had only defeated a top 10 player once, spectacularly turned the tables on Pegula after suffering a 6: 4-round three loss against her in SW19 in 2023.
Elisabetta Cocciaretto shakes Jessica Pegula after her shock in the first round (Ben Whitley/Pa)
Barbora Krejcikova avoided being added to the short list of reigning masters to suffer the elimination in the first round by coming back to defeat the second place from Eastbourne Open-up Alexandra Eala in three sets.
The 29-year-old Czech was in danger of joining the Steffi Graf, Steffi Graf, the state administration marketa of Drousova and the 22-fold winner of the Grand Slam.
After fought for shape and fitness all year round, she rose 3: 6: 6: 2 against the 20-year-old Filipino Eala on the Center Court.
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“Six months ago I had great pain with my back and didn’t really know how my career would go,” said Krejcikova in her interview on the pitch.
“I’m super happy and super excited that I can be here and that I can play on such a great courtyard.”
The two-time master Petra Kvitova said goodbye to Wimbledon after a 6: 3-6: 1 defeat against 10th Seed Emma Navarro.
The 35-year-old Wild Card, who returned to the tour in February after the birth of son Petr last summer, intends to retire after this year’s US Open.
Kvitova was a surprise winner of a maiden Grand Slam title in the All England Club in 2011 thanks to the victory over Maria Sharapova before struck in the final in 2014 against Eugenie Bouchard.
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When she said in court, she said: “Thank you for the atmosphere, it was wonderful to play on this beautiful farm. Congratulations. I wish we could have played a little longer. I never dreamed of winning Wimbledon and I did it twice, so this is something very special.
“I will miss Wimbledon, I will miss tennis, I will miss you, but I am ready for the next chapter of life. I can hardly wait to return as a member.”
The five-time major winner Iga Swiadek overcame Polina Kudermetova with 7: 5 6: 1, while the 18-year-old seventh seed Mirra Andreeva Mayar Sherif defeated 6: 3.
The fifth seed Zheng Qinwen was eliminated by the Czech world number 81 Katerina Siniakova.
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The Olympic champion lost 7-5 4-6 6-1.
The Queen Champion Tatjana Maria, who reached the semi-finals in 2022, also made an early exit when she lost in three sentences against the American Katie Porynen.
The 18-year-old Canadian happy loser Victoria Mboko marked her debut by Wimbledon by bothering the 25th seed Magdalena cheeky 6: 3 6: 2, while Karolina Muchova, a former French open finalist 7-5 6: 2 against Chinas Xinyu Wang.
The former champion Elena Rybakina followed the Armenian Elines Avanesyan 6: 2 6: 1 after being moved to court.
The Eastbourne winner Maya Joint, the four championship points on the title in front of Eala, was defeated by the Russian 19th Saatgut Liudmila Samsonova 6-3 with 6: 2.
