London (AFP) – American third seed Jessica Pegula admitted her shock straight-sets defeat against Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the Wimbledon first round was her “worst result of the year”. Pegula was demolished 6-2, 6-3 by the world number 116 in just 58 minutes on Court Two on Tuesday. It was a bitter blow for the 2024 US Open finalist, who has never been past the quarter-finals at the All England Club.
The 31-year-old played with heavy strapping on her right knee and never looked comfortable in a lacklustre performance. “She played incredible tennis. Do I think I played the best match ever? No. But I wasn’t that bad. It was just her day today,” Pegula said.
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“I think I could have served better but I was having trouble with the conditions. It was very humid and the court was slow. I tried my best to match her level and I thought I would close the gap in the second set. But she didn’t drop her level at all. She was forcing a lot of my errors.”
Since losing last year’s US Open final against Aryna Sabalenka, world number three Pegula has been eliminated before the quarter-finals in all three of her Grand Slam appearances. “It’s probably the worst result I’ve had all year. I haven’t lost in the first round of a Slam for a long time. That sucks,” she said.
“I feel like I’m playing as well as I was at the end of last year. But it’s hard to put it all together over two weeks. Sometimes it doesn’t align. I’m managing the knee and I have a bit of a neck injury as well. But I feel good overall. That’s why it’s disappointing. The most frustrating thing was I wasn’t able to figure it out, which I feel I should be able to.”
It was only Cocciaretto’s second win against a top-10 player. The 24-year-old has never been past the third round at Wimbledon and her best Grand Slam performance was a run to the last 16 at last year’s French Open.
© 2024 AFP
