London, July 1 (IANS) Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy delivered the biggest upset of the 2025 Wimbledon so far, ousting No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-3 in just 58 minutes in a women’s singles first-round match here on Tuesday. The result was the quickest defeat of a Top 5 seed at a major since Jule Niemeier’s 58-minute 6-4, 6-0 defeat of Anett Kontaveit in the second round of Wimbledon 2022, as per WTA.

Cocciaretto took the ball relentlessly early to redirect all of the Americans’ pace, tallying 17 winners to Pegula’s five. She also served flawlessly, conceding just eight points in total behind her delivery, and did not face a break point during the match — while capturing Pegula’s serve three times.

Cocciaretto advanced to the third round of Wimbledon for the second time, and reversed her 6-4, 6-0 loss to Pegula at that stage in 2023. Pegula fell in the first round of a Grand Slam for the first time since Roland Garros 2020, where she lost her opener to Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-1.

“I was so pumped to play Wimbledon this year,” Cocciaretto said in her on-court interview. “I couldn’t wait until the match started, I was practising so hard.”

The reason she was extra-pumped? Not just her love of Wimbledon or affinity for grass, but also in order to banish the memories of 2024. This time last year, she was ranked No. 43, but is now down at No. 116.

“I had a lot of stops last year. I was in the hospital and I was sick for one month,” Cocciaretto continued. “That’s why I couldn’t play here and that’s why I was so pumped…I don’t think too much about my ranking right now. The journey of tennis is long. You have to adapt yourself, you have to enjoy, but also you have to deal with life.”

Born in Ancona, the 21-year-old Cocciaretto had the highest ranking of No. 29 on the WTA ranking on August 21, 2023. She made her WTA debut as a wildcard at the Italian Open in May 2019 and qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw at the Australian Open 2020, where she lost to 17th-seeded Angelique Kerber in the first round. Her best performance at Wimbledon was the second round that she reached in 2022.

–IANS

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