Gauff shines in opening match, cruises past Dolehide at Wimbledon

Coco Gauff had an easy debut at Wimbledon after comfortably defeating Caroline Dolehide (No. 51) 6-1, 6-2 in just an hour and five minutes of play. The world No. 2 had a dominant performance, leaving behind her early exit in 2023.

The American achieved 55 Grand Slam victories, including a record 17-2 in her last three appearances in the main draw of a major. In the second round, she will face Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni (No. 142), 19 years old, who has already secured four consecutive wins at SW19 and will be looking to cause an upset.

Gauff's start against Dolehide was overwhelming. The American took advantage of her first break point in the first game and gained a lead she would not relinquish for the rest of the match. The American No. 1 dropped only one point on her serve throughout the set, while converting three breaks to take the set 6-1.

Dolehide could do little against both Gauff's first and second serves, winning just one point. Dolehide also had an inconsistent performance, with nine unforced errors in the first set alone, and winning just 43% of points on her serve, which is particularly poor for grass courts.

In the second set, Dolehide still couldn't show much, as Gauff maintained her pace. The 2023 US Open champion took two consecutive breaks and went up 4-0 after just 20 minutes. Dolehide had a brief resurgence, taking a break and then successfully defending her serve, narrowing the score to 2-4.

However, this was only a brief challenge to the world No. 2, as Gauff didn't want to prolong the match any further and eventually wrapped up the match 6-1, 6-2, clearly signaling that she is at the All England Club to compete for the title.