Wimbledon – 11 US tennis stars out already as America’s SW19 woes keep it up
Wimbledon might hardly have gotten off to a worse begin for the USA after 11 American gamers exited the event on the opening day. Seventh-seed Coco Gauff and Venus Williams had been the headline departures because the seek for the following American champion at SW19 goes on.
Teenager Gauff went into the event with excessive expectations however was left surprised by compatriot Sofia Kenin because the participant ranked 124th on the planet prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Court 1. Kenin just isn’t with out pedigree, nonetheless. She gained the Australian Open in 2020 and has been as excessive as No. 4 within the rankings.
Speaking after the match, Gauff mentioned: “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.”
A delighted Kenin will carry America’s hopes into the second spherical and admitted that she felt like she was on her manner again to the kind of kind that gained her a Grand Slam three years in the past in addition to reaching the French Open remaining in the identical 12 months.
She mentioned: “Obviously this means a lot. I feel like this year has been not necessarily lows, but I feel like it’s a comeback year for me. I feel like I started off the year well, I was playing well. I had a good feeling that this year would be a good year for me.”
Five-times champion Venus Williams can be out on the first try after she was crushed in straight units by Elina Svitolina. The 43-year-old former world No. 1 solely made it into the event through a wildcard place and suffered a nasty fall early on that did her already closely strapped knee no good.
Williams mentioned: “It was bad luck for me. I can’t believe it happened. I’m still trying to process it. What makes this one hard to process is I’ve had so many injuries. I’ve been missing from tour for quite a while. This is not what I want for myself.”
“I was literally killing it, then I got killed by the grass. I felt like I was in great form and in great form in the match. Afterwards, it was very hard to focus on what I was doing.”
Eight American ladies have already exited the singles event as Gauff and Williams had been joined by Caroline Dolehide, Caty McNally, Peyton Stearns, Katie Volynets, Claire Liu and Lauren Davis. But Jessica Pegula and Alycia Parks will be a part of Kenin within the second spherical.
Three American males are additionally out within the first spherical with 2018 semi-finalist John Isner dropping in 4 units to Spaniard Jaume Munar. The 38-year-old shall be joined on the airplane by Brandon Nakashima and Mackenzie McDonald.
The USA’s file at Wimbledon has been an unsatisfactory one for longer than the sport-mad nation would most likely care to confess. They haven’t produced a males’s champion since Pete Sampras lifted his seventh Wimbledon title 23 years in the past and there was no ladies’s title since Serena Williams beat Angelique Kerber in 2016.
The longest stretch the US has gone with out a ladies’s champion at Wimbledon is from 1990-1999, however the likes of Pegula shall be hoping that she will do one thing about that sooner quite than later.