July 1 (UPI) -- Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto needed just 58 minutes to deliver one of the biggest upsets so far at Wimbledon 2025, bouncing American Jessica Pegula in straight sets on Day 2 of the Grand Slam on Tuesday in London.
Cocciaretto, who withdrew due to illness before her first match of last year's edition of the grass-court major, deployed clean serves and pinpoint winners to start her latest run at the All-England Lawn Tennis Club with an inspired 6-2, 6-3 victory over the world No. 3.
"Last year here, I was in the hospital and I was sick for a month and a half and I couldn't play here," Cocciaretto said in her on-court interview. "That's why I was so pumped to play, because I think it's the best tournament and of course grass is always special to play.
"I don't think too much about my ranking now. ... The journey of tennis is long. You have to adapt yourself. You have to enjoy. But also, you have to accept life."
The No. 116 player in the WTA rankings converted 4 of 6 break point opportunities -- while her American foe did not earn a break point chance -- in the straight-sets win. She also held advantages of 17-5 in winners and totaled 19 unforced errors, compared to Pegula's 24.
Tuesday's loss marked Pegula's earliest exit at Wimbledon since 2019. The Wimbledon 2023 quarterfinalist lost in the second round of Wimbledon 2024.
Cocciaretto advanced to the second round in 2022 and to the third round in 2023, where she lost in straight sets to Pegula.
She will take on No. 98 Katie Volynets of the United States or No. 45 Tatjana Maria of Germany in the second round of Wimbledon 2025.
No. 18 Daria Kasatkina of Australia and No. 26 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine were among the top-ranked women to advance through the early wave of Day 2 matches. No. 13 Tommy Paul of the United States also advanced on the men's side with a straight-sets victory over No. 224 Johannus Monday of Great Britain.
No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy, No. 4 Jack Draper of Great Britain, No. 6 Novak Djokovic of Serbia and No. 10 Ben Shelton of the United States are among the other top men's players with Day 2 first-round matches.
No. 2 Coco Gauff of the United States, No. 4 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 6 Zheng Qinwen of China, No. 7 Mirra Andreeva of Russia and No. 11 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan are among the top women with Tuesday matches.
