Coco Gauff eases into third round of Wimbledon women's draw - ESPN

WIMBLEDON, England — Coco Gauff likes No. 1 Court at Wimbledon.

It's where she beat Venus Williams back in 2019 when Gauff made her Wimbledon debut at age 15.

On Wednesday, Gauff beat qualifier Anca Todoni 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the third round at the All England Club.

«This is the court where I first started here at Wimbledon. Court 1 is always a special place for me to play on,» the 20-year-old Gauff said in her on-court interview.

The victory also allows Gauff, the No. 2 seed, to move another step away from last year's first-round exit.

«Overall, I just learned about life a lot,» the US Open champion said when asked about putting that three-set loss to Sofia Kenin behind her. «I just realized that, yes, what I do I'm very passionate about, but it's not ever that serious and sometimes the world can make you feel like there's so much pressure, there's so much expectation. At the end of the [day], it's a game. It's sport.»

She added later: «I tend to be ultracritical on myself. I'm like, 'Okay, let me take a step back, be patient, and enjoy the ride.'»

Gauff slipped and fell twice on the slick court and muttered to herself during the 1 hour, 6 minute match against an opponent ranked 140 places below her. She also had 16 unforced errors in the short match and managed to land only 43% of her first serves.

«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.

«That's tennis,» she added later. «You're always going to miss some shots that you normally would make. I am trying to focus on straight sets and winning cleaner.»

Todoni, the 19-year-old Romanian who was making her Grand Slam debut, hit 23 unforced errors and could not find her range against