“I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it.” A heartbroken Coco Gauff said, following her shocking Wimbledon exit earlier this week. The World No.2, who just won a Grand Slam last month at Roland Garros, was no match for her first-round opponent, Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska. The transition from clay to grass proved to be harder than expected for the 21-year-old. But is that the only reason behind her debacle at the All England Club? According to a former WTA icon, it appears Gauff had multiple obstacles to overcome. And she fell short eventually, while meeting an unfortunate fate at the grass major.

On Tuesday, the event witnessed its biggest upset on the women’s side when Yastremska bested the 2025 French Open queen. In straight sets, she beat the American with a score line of 7-6(3), 6-1. It was the first time the Ukrainian defeated her after losing the first three encounters on clay. Seems like grass acted as a boon for the World No.42. However, there’s more to what meets the eye looking at this matchup and the result, according to ex-WTA pro Rennae Stubbs.

During an episode of her podcast, dated July 2, Stubbs and former German pro Andrea Petkovic were discussing what led to Gauff’s Wimbledon exit. Petkovic brought up the schedule while suggesting that the World No.2 didn’t get enough time to prepare. “I don’t know how much time she had to practice to get ready, mentally ready into the next such a big event on the calendar. And it’s just hard to do. It’s so packed, the calendar.” However, Stubbs had more points to mention while reflecting on the causes behind Gauff’s defeat. “I think that certainly did contribute, maybe, because she didn’t have the prep that she needed on grass.” Plus, she cited there were not “enough practice matches on grass” She suggested the outcome was all but confirmed when the draw was initially out. It all “just came down to matchup, Petko.” How?

Stubbs explained, “When you think about Yastremska, this is the biggest, worst matchup for Coco in the first round. Now, if Coco was confident coming in on grass, I still think that’s a really hard matchup.”

Highlighting the Ukrainian’s strengths over Gauff, the former Aussie icon continued, “What does Yastremska do? She’s the one, two, three maximum punch player. Bang with the return, bang with the second shot, serve plus one. She’s not going to be a type of person that’s going to rally for six or seven. And Yastremska’s ability to maybe hit five great shots, that’s very rare.”

Gauff’s own weaknesses included 9 double faults and 29 unforced errors. Plus, she could only hit 6 winners, compared to Yastremska’s 16. “And you know on grass, when it’s your worst surface and your forehand, which is your worst shot, is going to be so much more difficult to play on grass against a ball that is coming at you at 90 miles an hour.” Concluding her remarks, Stubbs said, “It was just, so I talk about, yeah, could she have had more time preparing? Could she have more matches in Berlin? Sure. But I think this comes down to straight up a bad matchup.”

Clearly, Gauff was not as prepared as she was when she lifted the Suzanne Lenglen trophy on clay. And she made it evident as well after the loss against the Ukrainian.

Coco Gauff makes honest admission following Wimbledon heartbreak

For the uninitiated, this year marked Coco Gauff’s sixth campaign at the All England Club. She made her event debut in 2019, at the age of 15. Unlike hard court and clay court, where she’s won a slam each, the World No.2 has always struggled on grass. Prior to her 2025 campaign at the Wimbledon, her best run was reaching the fourth round. She did it twice, in 2021 and last season.

After her 2023 appearance at the grass major, this is the first time that Gauff is out in the first round. So what did she think of her performance against Yastremska? During the post-match press conference, the American didn’t hold back. Expressing her honest introspection, she said, “I think I didn’t serve that well and yeah, I mean obviously I have to be able to counter that and also be as aggressive too as she is at times.” 

Moreover, she also spoke of the difficulty in transitioning from clay to grass. Coming fresh of her French Open glory, she hardly got much time to prepare. She only participated in Berlin where she crashed out in the first round. “I think it’s just you know changing my playing style a little bit which is difficult cuz for me it’s like I approach Clay and I play this one way for however long Clay season is 6 to 8 weeks or I don’t know. And then I feel like when I go hard, I don’t have to change as much, but I still have to adjust it a little bit.”

On a positive note, though, she did mention, “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 here.” Will we see an overhaul next year at the All England Club? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, she will only focus on doing better in her next slam going forward.

The US Open is approaching on her favorite hard court. Being a former champion (2023), she will try to do better and forget her Wimbledon woes. Do you think Coco Gauff will make a solid return on the court? Let us know in the comments below.

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