American tennis pro Jessica Pegula suffers stunning early Wimbledon exit

American tennis pro Jessica Pegula suffered a stunning and early exit from Wimbledon in the first round on Tuesday when she was defeated in under an hour by 116th-ranked Italian, Elisabetta Cocciaretto. 

Cocciaretto, 24, managed to pull off her first-ever top five win at Wimbledon with ease, defeating Pegula in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. 

“To play here in such an unbelievable stadium and such an unbelievable tournament, it’s a dream come true for me. I was so pumped to play Wimbledon this year,” Cocciaretto said during her on-court interview following the match. 

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“I played a really great champion. She’s an unbelievable player, she’s a great example for us.” 

Pegula’s loss comes just days after she defeated Iga Swiatek in straight sets on grass to win the Bad Homburg Open in Germany. Unlike in her match against the five-time Grand Slam champion, Pegula struggled against Cocciaretto’s aggressive play, hitting only five winners and making 24 unforced errors. 

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“For this to happen today, it’s disappointing. I don’t know how else to put it,” she said after the match. “I’m upset that I wasn’t able to turn anything around. But at the same time, I do feel like she played kind of insane. Hats off to her. Kudos to her for playing at a high level that I couldn’t match it today.”

Pegula’s bad luck in the first round, which saw six of her first seven appearances at majors result in a first-round loss, came to an end in 2020, when she last lost to top-ranked women’s pro Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open.

Tuesday’s match was reminiscent of those early struggles. 

“This is definitely probably the worst result I’ve had all year,” Pegula said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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