Gauff, Pegula Out at Wimbledon in Nightmare Start for American Women, ESPN

The odds of the U.S. snapping its nine-year Wimbledon women’s singles title drought took a huge hit in the first round: Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, the top two ranked American women, were both eliminated in the opening round.

Gauff, the No. 2-ranked player, lost to world No. 42 Dayana Yastremska while No. 3 Pegula fell to world No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto. Both Americans lost in straight sets.

The early losses come just weeks after tournament wins for both stars. Gauff snapped the decade-long French Open drought by winning at Roland-Garros in early June, while Pegula won the Bad Homburg Open, a WTA 500 tournament, in Germany over the weekend. The event was played on a grass surface, the same as in Wimbledon.

The early exits of two of the sport’s most popular and marketable American stars—if there are no deep runs by homegrown contenders—could also hurt TV ratings for ESPN, which holds the tournament’s U.S. media rights.

Gauff’s loss highlights the difficulty of the Channel Slam: winning the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. The tournaments are separated by only a few weeks and are played on different surfaces. (Roland-Garros is on clay.)

Only six women’s tennis players have won at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon in the same year, the last being Serena Williams in 2015.

“It’s just the toughest transition in tennis,” 18-time Grand Slam champion Chrissie Evert said on the ESPN broadcast before Gauff’s loss. Evert won both tournaments in the same year in 1974.

Even on the men’s side, French Open winner Carlos Alcaraz struggled out of the gate as he was pushed to a full five sets by unranked Italian Fabio Fognini. However, the 22-year-old, who is chasing his third consecutive Wimbledon championship, achieved the Channel Slam last year.

The U.S. still has 11 women left in the tournament entering the second round, led by 2025 Australian Open winner Madison Keys (No. 6) and Emma Navarro (No. 10).