Coco Gauff's weakness exposed in first-round upset at Wimbledon

Gauff, 21, isn't a strong grass-court player. According to TennisLive.com, the American is 27-13 (67.5%) on grass in her junior and professional career and has yet to win a singles title on the surface. She has won 70% of matches on other surfaces. 

In her news conference before Wimbledon, Gauff didn't seem thrilled about returning to the grass after winning the 2025 French Open during the clay season.

"You need to play a little bit lower and more aggressive than the clay season, which is difficult, because you spend however many weeks playing a certain way," Gauff told the media. "Then we come on grass, and we have 13 days to completely change — not completely change, because you still have the core of your game — but just change a little bit how you play." 

The surface change likely contributed to her faltering in her match against Yastremska. She hit just six winners, committed 29 unforced errors and double-faulted nine times. Yastremska, meanwhile, hit 16 winners, made 25 unforced errors and double-faulted three times. 

Gauff rose to stardom at Wimbledon in 2019 when she upset Venus Williams in her debut and made it to the tournament's fourth round. Since then, she has failed to recapture that magic at the All England Club. 

She has yet to advance past the fourth round at Wimbledon and has lost in the first round in two of the past three years. 

Until she overcomes her grass-court struggles, the "Super Bowl of tennis" may continue to elude her.