Coco Gauff crashes out of Wimbledon in first round after defeat by Sofia Kenin

Coco Gauff said she has a lot to learn after a bruising first-round exit to compatriot Sofia Kenin in the biggest shock of the week so far at Wimbledon.

No 7 seed Gauff was beaten 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Court No 1 by Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion who is currently ranked No 128 in the world.

Kenin, born in Moscow but raised in the US, has never gone beyond round two at SW19, while 19-year-old Gauff suffered her earliest exit at The Championships.

And a disgruntled Gauff said: ‘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.

‘I definitely need to take care of my service games. I do think I’m a better server than her, but I think she took care more of the plus-ones and plus-twos a lot better than I did.’

Coco Gauff suffered a shock first-round defeat by compatriot Sofia Kenin at Wimbledon

Gauff had some stern words about the state of her game after her shock defeat on London

‘Obviously my forehand needs work. I mean, being more aggressive on those shots. I think I made too many errors on my forehand and backhand today.’

On opponent Kenin, she said: ‘She had nothing to lose today. Obviously she won a Grand Slam, but she’s in a tough spot in her career. So I knew coming in she would play with a lot of motivation. It was all about how I would play today and how I would take care of my end of the court.’

Gauff will play doubles with compatriot Jessica Pegula, the world No 4 who won today, and added: ‘I mean, obviously the goal would be the win in doubles, but I haven’t really thought about it.’

Kenin, the Grand Slam champion who had to qualify for the tournament after seeing her ranking plummet, said: ‘I feel like this year has not necessarily been all 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.’

On proving the world rankings wrong in toppling No 7 Gauff, Kenin said: ‘It gives me a boost to try to prove them wrong.

‘Of course, I mean, when I was higher ranked and everything, people looked at me like I should win. I try to use that as, like, a way of – I knew she’d be a bit more nervous because more pressure’s on her than me.

‘I just tried to use everything I could to my advantage.’

Pegula earlier said American women spur each other on and Kenin added: ‘I feel like women’s tennis, US women’s tennis is unbelievable right now.

‘Everyone is playing so well. Jessie (Pegula), Maddie (Keys), Coco (Gauff) of course, everyone else. That obviously tries to push me out there to be, like, at the top.’