Pegula-Crashes-Out-of-Wimbledon-Opener-in-Stunning
Wimbledon—Spraying another drive that littered the lawn, Jessica Pegula bent over and shrieked in disgust.
The third-seeded Pegula arrived at SW19 with high hopes, but crashed out in a rash of errors to an opponent who repeatedly rushed her today.
World No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto sent Pegula packing 6-2, 6-3 in a 58-minute thrashing on No. 2 Court. Pegula is the highest seed in the singles draw to fall so far.
“IFor sure it was a really great match. I played unbelievable, I think one of the best matches that I ever played,” Cocciaretto said. “I was so pumped to play here, because I split Wimbledon last year [due to illness].
“I was really grateful to play and to play such a great champion like her.”
Fresh off her third title of the season on the grass of Bad Homburg where she beat Iga Swiatek in the final, Pegula never really found her range as her 17-match winning streak in Grand Slam first-round matches came to a stunning end.
The last time the US Open finalist fell in the first round of a major was at the 2020 Roland Garros.
Afterward, Pegula, who played with taping wrapping her left knee, said she felt fine physically and credited Cocciaretto’s quality of play as the key.
“She played absolutely, like, incredible tennis,” Pegula said. “Do I think I played the best match ever? No, but I definitely don’t think I was playing bad. It wasn’t like I was playing that bad.
“She just was, yeah, hitting her shots and going for it, serving big, serving high percentage, going big second serves, redirecting the ball. It was just her day I honestly think today, yeah
“Considering she likes to play on [grass] and can be tricky… I think definitely [an upset] maybe it’s a higher possibility when the opponent really likes it.”
This first-rounder was a rematch of the 2023 Wimbledon third round, which Pegula won 6-4, 6-0 in 75 minutes.
Today, Cocciaretto flipped the script by controlling the center of the court and basically beating Pegula at her own game.
It is Cocciaretto’s second career Top 10 victory coming two years after she surprised Petra Kvitova at the 2023 Roland Garros.
On a blistering and humid day, Cocciaretto came out smoking drives down the line.
In a sloppy fourth game, Pegula coughed up two double faults and a pair of unforced errors gifting the break and a 3-1 lead to her opponent.
The 24-year-old Cocciaretto danced around a backhand and stun a forehand down the line for 4-2.
When Pegula, who stashed an extra Yonex racquet against the back wall, put a backhand into the middle of the net, the Italian broke again for 5-2.
Net clearance was an issue for Pegula throughout the set. She struggled to elevate her flat drives above the tape in the first set and was sometimes spraying shots long in the second.
On Cocciaretto’s second set point, Pegula punched a forehand into the bottom of the net as the former world No. 29 wrapped up a routine opening set in just 25 minutes. Pegula stalled her cause, committing 13 unforced errors against two winners in the set.
“It was terrible. Yeah, it was bad,” Pegula said of her unforced error count. “I mean, that was the one thing, I think I could have served better.
“I was having trouble adjusting in the conditions. The ball didn’t feel like it was moving. It didn’t feel the same as how I’ve been serving. I’ve been serving pretty well the last few weeks. Again, it’s so frustrating when something you’ve been working on so much doesn’t come and help you when you want it to, especially on grass.
“So yeah, I think that was something that could have been better. Yeah, I think she was forcing a lot of the errors and kind of forcing me for the stat sheet to be really bad. It wasn’t the prettiest, yeah. The end of the first was crappy.”
Deadlocked at 3-all in the second set, Pegula double faulted to face a break point then misfired on a backhand as Cocciaretto broke for 4-3.
Sending a forehand wide, Pegula leaned on her Yonex racquet like a can erupting in a squeal of angst. Cocciaretto cracked a crosscourt forehand that helped her hold for 5-3.
In the final game, Pegula’s control unraveled. Smacking a double fault three feet long to open, she sent a forehand five feet long to face love 30. Pegula put one final backhand into net and her Wimbledon was done.
This is Pegula’s earliest exit from The Championships since 2019.
Meanwhile Cocciaretto will play either Queen’s Club champion Tatjana Maria or American Katie Volynets for a third-round spot.
Pegula’s departure leaves seventh-seeded Mirra Andreeva as the highest seed in the third quarter of the draw.
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