Coco Gauff did not look at her imperious best under the roof on Wimbledon’s Court One on Wednesday but she was always in control of an error-strewn second-round 6-2 6-1 victory over Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni.
The US Open champion slipped and fell twice on the slick court and muttered to herself during the one hour six minute match against an opponent ranked 140 places below her.
“I do think I could have played cleaner at some points but overall I’m happy to have got through to the third round,” Gauff said in an interview on court.
Second seed Gauff, a crowd favourite at Wimbledon after announcing her arrival on the big stage with a fourth-round run as a 15-year-old five years ago, produced 16 unforced errors in the short match and managed to land only 43% of her first serves.
But her nervous opponent, at 19 six months Gauff’s junior, hit 23 unforced errors and could not find her range against the fleet-footed American, who wrapped up the match with a drop shot that Todoni could only send wide.
Gauff, who suffered a humiliating first-round exit last year at the hands of compatriot Sofia Kenin, said she had learned from that disappointment and from her triumph at the US Open to manage expectations and emotions.
“Overall, I just learned about life a lot. What I do, I’m very passionate about but it’s not ever that serious,” she said.
“It’s a game, it’s sport. Sometimes the world can make you feel like there is so much pressure and expectation.”
The draw has opened up for Gauff after the first-day withdrawals of Belarusians Aryna Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, and former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka.
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz raced into the third round on Wednesday to set up a mouth-watering duel with fellow crowd-pleaser Frances Tiafoe as Japanese superstar Naomi Osaka returned to Centre Court for the first time in five years.
Alcaraz defeated Australia’s world number 69 Aleksandar Vukic 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-2 on the back of 42 winners.
The third-seeded Spaniard’s only moments of concern came in the first set when he let slip a 5-2 lead and found himself 5-6 down with Vukic serving for the opener.
However, the three-time major winner steadied the ship to race away to victory against a player who got the better of him in qualifying at the 2020 French Open.
Alcaraz next faces Tiafoe, the American player he defeated in five sets in the semifinals of the 2022 US Open on his way to his first Grand Slam triumph.
“I’m going for him,” said Alcaraz, who is bidding to become just the sixth man after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win the French Open and Wimbledon titles back to back.
“I’m ready to play a really high level of tennis and hopefully take him.”
Tiafoe made the third round by seeing off Borna Coric in straight sets.
Eccentric Fabio Fognini of Italy needed a clutch of match points to knock out eighth-seeded Casper Ruud 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3.
The 37-year-old Fognini, sporting bleach-blond hair, twice served for the match from 5-2 up in the third set before sealing victory over the three-time Grand Slam runner-up in the fourth set.
“It just shows why I love and hate this sport,” said Fognini.
Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, came back from dropping the first set and facing two set points in the second to see off Alexandre Muller of France 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 7-5.
The last time four-time major winner Osaka appeared on Centre Court was in 2019 when she was second seed but was dumped out in the first round by Yulia Putintseva.
Five years on, she is ranked at 113 having only returned to the tour in January after giving birth to daughter Shai in July last year.
Osaka’s win over Diane Parry in the first round was her first at Wimbledon since 2018.
The Japanese star takes on America’s 17th-ranked Emma Navarro, who arrived in London on the back of a semifinal run at the Bad Homburg grass-court tournament.
Later Wednesday, world number one Jannik Sinner will take on Italian compatriot and former runner-up Matteo Berrettini.
Italian men’s tennis has rarely been stronger, with the country boasting five players in the top 50 while the nation swept to Davis Cup glory last season.
Ten Italian men started the singles tournament this year at Wimbledon.
Sinner was the first Italian man to capture a Grand Slam title with his victory at the Australian Open in January and was also the first from his country to become world number one.
“I feel like in Italy we have so many tournaments, starting with juniors, then the Futures and Challengers,” said 22-year-old Sinner.
“We have big, big ATP tournaments there. We have good facilities and great coaches.”