London: Wimbledon hailed a new queen on Monday when 15-year-old Cori Gauff stunned five-time champion Venus Williams as opening day at the All England Club witnessed shock defeats for title hopefuls Naomi Osaka, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
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Gauff, already in the record books as the youngest player ever to qualify for the tournament, showed nerves of steel after squandering three match points in a tense conclusion on Court One.
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She made just eight unforced errors while 39-year-old Venus committed 25 as the veteran American suffered only her second first round loss at Wimbledon – the first was in 1997.
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Williams had already won two of her five Wimbledon titles by the time Gauff was born in 2004, but the teenager was unfazed.
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“It’s the first time I have ever cried after winning a match,” said Gauff who took up the sport after being inspired by Venus and Serena Williams.
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“At the net, Venus told me congratulations and keep going, she said good luck and I told her thanks for everything she did.”
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‘So inspiring’
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“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her – I told her she was so inspiring. I’ve always wanted to tell her that but I’ve never had the guts.”
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On a day of seismic shocks, Japanese superstar Osaka slumped to a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 defeat to 39th-ranked Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan who had defeated the world number two on grass in Birmingham two weeks ago.
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US Open and Australian Open winner Osaka is the first top-two seed to lose in the first round since Martina Hingis in 2001.
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“Can we stop now? I think I am going to cry,” she told reporters as she made a quick exit from her post-match news conference.
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Osaka has yet to make a final since her Australian Open win in January.
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“There are answers to questions that you guys ask that I still haven’t figured out yet,” she admitted.
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German sixth seed Zverev, 22, lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 to Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely, the world number 124.
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“Everything outside the court affects you, I won’t get into details now, but the last couple of days have been very rough for me,” said Zverev who has never got beyond the last 16.
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Just 15 minutes after Zverev’s defeat, 20-year-old Tsitsipas lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 6-3 to world number 89 Thomas Fabbiano of Italy.
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Tsitsipas had reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January and the last-16 at Roland Garros as well as the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.
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‘I feel devastated’
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“If I won today I would not have deserved it. It should have been over in three sets,” said Tsitsipas.
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“I feel devastated.”
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At least, Canadian 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime kept ‘NextGen’ hopes alive by beating Canadian compatriot Vasek Pospisil 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.
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Victory made the 19th seed the first player born in the 2000s to win a match at Wimbledon.
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It was the Canadian’s first ever match win at a Slam and he shrugged off being named the sixth favourite by one bookmaker to win the title this year.
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“Calm down, I am only 18 so I think that was a bit exaggerated,” he said.
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“Sometimes I can understand the excitement, it would be a nice story, a cool story.”
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Defending champion Novak Djokovic got his campaign for a fifth Wimbledon title off to a winning start with newly-hired coaching team recruit, and 2001 winner, Goran Ivanisevic helping steer the ship.
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Djokovic, chasing a fifth title at the All England Club, saw off 35-year-old Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
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If his victory was routine, there was nothing predictable about Djokovic’s decision to bring Ivanisevic into his inner sanctum over the weekend.
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“I have always looked up to Goran. When he won here in 2001, I feel I was part of that as he had trained in Germany at the same base as me when I was 13-14,” said Djokovic.
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“I feel as if I contributed to his victory,” joked Djokovic who next faces Denis Kudla of the United States.
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Fourth seed Kevin Anderson, runner-up to Djokovic in 2018, eased into the second round beating Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
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Anderson will now play Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic who registered his first win at the tournament in seven years when he defeated Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.