Gauff, the seventh seed at the All England Club, emerged a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victor on Centre Court in a thriller to open play on the second Tuesday. The Americans produced a spectacle, with Pegula looking to exploit the well-documented weaknesses in the Gauff game, namely the 22-year-old’s forehand and second service. That was particularly on show in the opening set, with Gauff, the 2023 French Open and 2025 US Open champion, blowing a 40-0 lead to be broken in the very first game. That set a nasty precedent for the world No7, who saw herself making error after error as Pegula, who equalled her best-ever run at Wimbledon by reaching the last eight here, took advantage, stepping inside the baseline to attack her return and target the Gauff forehand, which was laden with mistakes and unforced err