Zverev and Gauff crash out at Wimbledon

Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine shakes hands with Coco Gauff of the U.S., left, after winning the first round women's match at Wimbledon. Pic: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

World No.3 Alexander Zverev was dumped on the Wimbledon seeds scrapheap after losing a two-day, five-set marathon to Arthur Rinderknech.

The German, a three-time grand slam finalist, was beaten 7-6 (3) 6-7 (8) 6-3 6-7 (5) 6-4 by Frenchman Rinderknech in a match carried over from Monday evening.

Zverev is the fourth men’s top-10 player to crash out in the first round at this year’s Championships — and the highest-ranked — joining Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, and Daniil Medvedev through the exit door.

Italian seventh seed Musetti was knocked out by Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia.

A 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-1 defeat was not a major surprise, however, as Musetti has been recovering from a thigh injury since Roland Garros and was forced to withdraw from Queen’s last month.

On the women’s side, French Open champion Coco Gauff came a cropper under the Court One roof as she crashed out following a shock straight-sets defeat to Ukrainian world No.42 Dayana Yastremska.

Twenty-four days since lifting the title at Roland Garros, the stunned American second seed was beaten 7-6 (3) 6-1 in a major upset.

The resounding loss was the 21-year-old’s second round-one exit in three years in SW19 following defeat to compatriot Sofia Kenin at this stage in 2023.

World No.3 Jessica Pegula struggled to explain her shock exit as she praised the “insane” performance of opponent Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

Last year’s US Open runner-up was beaten 6-2 6-3 in just 58 minutes as Italian world No.116 Cocciaretto celebrated the greatest win of her career.

Barbora Krejcikova avoided being added to the short list of reigning champions to suffer first-round eliminations by battling back to beat Eastbourne Open runner-up Alexandra Eala in three sets.

Two-time champion Petra Kvitova bid farewell to Wimbledon following a 6-3 6-1 loss to 10th seed Emma Navarro.

Men’s world No.1 Jannik Sinner announced himself at this year’s tournament with a statement win over fellow Italian Luca Nardi.

The 23-year-old dropped only seven games in a comprehensive 6-4 6-3 6-0 victory in an hour and 48 minutes.

Sinner slammed down nine aces among 28 winners and lost only 12 points behind his own serve.

The three-time grand slam winner has only reached the semi-finals here once, in 2023, but all roads seem to be leading to a showdown with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz a week on Sunday.