Coco Gauff loves No. 1 Court at Wimbledon. It’s where she beat Venus Williams in 2019, when Gauff was competing at the prestigious grass-court tournament for the first time in her career at the age of 15.
The American beat Anca Todoni 6-2, 6-1 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the tournament at the All England Club.
“This is where I started my Wimbledon journey. Court One will always be special to me,” the now 20-year-old said in an interview after her match.
The victory also allows Gauff, the second seed, to put a little more balm on her surprise elimination in the first round last year on the London pitch.
“I’m learning new things every day,” the US Open champion said of her three-set loss to compatriot Sofia Kenin.
“I realized that, yeah, I’m passionate, but you don’t have to take everything so seriously and sometimes you can feel like the whole world is putting pressure on you because of expectations,” she explained. “At the end of the day, it’s just a game. It’s a sport.”
Todoni, a 19-year-old Romanian, was playing in her first career Grand Slam tournament.
Five years ago, Gauff defeated Williams — a five-time Wimbledon champion — 6-4, 6-4 in the first round en route to the round of 16 at Wimbledon.
Alcaraz makes a comeback
On the other hand, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz trailed 6-5 in the first set before orchestrating a comeback that allowed him to defeat Alexsander Vukic 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-2. He thus set the table for a third-round duel against the 29e top seed Frances Tiafoe, who beat Borna Coric 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-3.
When it was pointed out that Tiafoe was next in line, the 21-year-old Spaniard said with a smile that “I’m the one who’s going to be in his line.”
“We had a great match at the US Open,” the third seed recalled of their semifinal encounter that Alcaraz won at Flushing Meadows in 2022.
In other matches, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka fell 6-4, 6-1 in the second round to 19-year-old Naomi Osaka.e seed Emma Navarro.
Osaka has never advanced beyond the third round in four appearances.
The 11e Top seed Danielle Collins completed her first-round match by beating Clara Tauson 6-3, 7-6 (4). It had been interrupted the day before at 4-4 in the second set.
For her part, the 20th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia continued her journey in the third round by ousting Magdalena Frech 7-5, 6-3.
In the men’s competition, 16th seed Ugo Humbert eliminated Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6 (9), 6-1, 6-3.
Andreescu advances to 3rd round
Bianca Andreescu defeated Czech Linda Noskova 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the second round of the Wimbledon tournament on Wednesday on Court No. 18.
Andreescu, who is ranked 176e world level, took the measure of its rival, the 26e seeded, after one hour and 33 minutes.
In the third round, she will face the winner of the match between the finalist of the French Open, the Italian Jasmine Paolini, and the Belgian Greet Minnen.
The Ontarian wasn’t as incisive on serve as she would have liked; she won only 74% of her points with her first serve. In addition, she was limited to just one ace, in addition to committing two double faults.
Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, was able to convert just one of her six break points. She was tenacious on her return, however, stopping Noskova from breaking her serve in five opportunities.
The representative of the maple leaf also finished the match with a total of 28 winners, and 11 unforced errors. Noskova, more messy, recorded 21 winners, but she committed 26 unforced errors.
Medvedev overheats
Semi-finalist last year and a fan of Court No. 1 where he has “never lost”, as he likes to point out, Daniil Medvedev had been scheduled on Centre Court for his second round against the Frenchman Alexandre Müller (102nd).
A match that seemed to be within his grasp but which almost slipped through his fingers as he won 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 7-5.
“It was very tough physically,” commented the Russian. “Alex played very well and there were moments when I had a lot of trouble staying in touch. I was able to stay solid, but the next match I will have to do better.”
The end of the first set showed how disturbed Medvedev was: at 6/3 set point for Müller in the tie break, he went to sit down as if it were a change of ends.
Felix Auger-Aliassime overthrown
On the other hand, Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime was defeated by Australian Thanasi Kokkikanis 4-6, 5-7, 7-6 (9), 6-4 and 6-4 at the end of a marathon of four hours and 38 minutes of play, in a match that was interrupted several times by rain and which lasted two days.
It was the first duel between the two players on the ATP circuit, and Kokkikanis, who is ranked 93e world ranking, will now face Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the second round.
On the other hand, Ontario’s Denis Shapovalov will face Germany’s Daniel Altmaier in the second round this afternoon.
Quebec’s Leylah Annie Fernandez and Ontario’s Gabriela Dabrowski will each be in action with their respective playing partners in women’s doubles later today.