American tennis superstar Coco Gauff breaks her silence following surprise first round Wimbledon exit

American tennis player and French Open champion Coco Gauff has admitted to feeling ‘overwhelmed’ following her shock defeat in the first round of this year’s Wimbledon.

Gauff went into the tournament as second seed off the back of her triumph at Roland-Garros, and ahead of her first-round match-up with Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska was tipped to progress far into the tournament.

However, world number 42 Yastremska caused one of many round one Wimbledon upsets this year, dismantling Gauff in a comfortable straight sets victory as she won 7-6(3), 6-1 to secure her place in round two.

Speaking in the aftermath of what was probably the biggest upset of the tournament so far, the world number two Coco Gauff stated: ‘I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards, so I didn’t feel like I had enough time to do, I guess celebrate and then also get back into it’.

Questions will be raised as to how much longer the 21-year-old and two-time Grand Slam winner can cite inexperience and feeling ‘overwhelmed’ as an excuse for poor performances at Wimbledon, having failed to progress further than the fourth round in any of her six tournament appearances.

Gauff’s struggles on grass have somewhat plagued her career so far, with her famous breakout win against Venus Williams in 2019 still the only time she has beaten a top 50 opponent at Wimbledon.

However, the American was quick to emphasize that she would work hard to alleviate her apparent tournament curse: ‘I have faith that if I can make these adjustments, I can do well here, I really do want to do well here.'

'I’m not someone who wants to write myself off grass this early in my career, but I definitely need to make some changes if I want to be successful’.

Gauff’s commitment to bettering her game will bring some relief to those who may have feared a similar situation to that of former world number one Naomi Osaka, who faced a series of mental struggles that led to her feeling ‘overwhelmed’ at major tournaments.

Fans of Coco Gauff will be hoping that she is indeed able to bounce back from Tuesday’s mental blockade and surprise defeat to provide a strong return to SW19 next year.