By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday June 28, 2022
Coco Gauff battled through a difficult encounter with Elena-Gabriela Ruse to reach the second round at Wimbledon.
Photo Source: Getty
Coco Gauff may be 18 years old, and the youngest singles player at Wimbledon this year, but the teenager is wise – and tough – beyond her years, and she showed that on Day 2 as she battled past the feisty Elena-Gabriela Ruse 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, on No.2 Court.
Gauff, the runner-up at Roland-Garros earlier this month, improves to 3-0 in first-round matches – she has reached the round of 16 on her previous two visits to SW19, but never further.
The American cracked eight aces and earned 25 break points across the two hour and 29 minute contest with the World No. 54, but she could only manage two breaks and was forced to battle tooth-and-nail down the stretch as she finally broke in the 11th game of the final set to take control of the victory.
Gauff will face another Romanian, Mihaela Buzarnescu, in the second round. The No.11 seed improves to 24-12 on the season with her victory, and 7-2 at Wimbledon.