Coco Gauff, Sloane Stephens crash out early

Washington: Coco Gauff, the American teen who electrified Wimbledon with a last-16 run, and US top seed Sloane Stephens crashed out Tuesday in round one of the WTA Washington Open. Eighth-ranked Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, lost to Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson 6-2, 7-5 while 15-year-old qualifier Gauff fell to Kazakhstan’s 84th-ranked Zarina Diyas 6-4, 6-2.

“Every loss is something I learn from. Overall it was a good experience,” Gauff said.

The US Open women’s hardcourt tuneup event lost its only top-10 entrant in Stephens and its star attraction in 146th-ranked Gauff, whose loss came in her first main-draw match since she fell to eventual champion Simona Halep at Wimbledon.

“I’m looking forward to the US Open and hope I can make a good result there. I’m going to work on being more aggressive and trusting myself a little more on the court,” Gauff said.

Gauff has been shocked at the whirlwind speed at which her life has changed and that crowds still pack every seat to watch her.

“I’m happy for all the support. I thought it would settle back after a couple weeks but I guess people are still excited. All this has changed so quickly so it’s hard sometimes but having the experience is definitely going to help me for the US Open,” said Gauff.

Stephens, whose first WTA title came at Washington in 2015, exited with one win or less for the eighth time in 10 non-Grand Slam starts this year.

“I could have played better. It was hot. Tough conditions. But you know from here only thing you can do is improve,” said Stephens.

Stephens, 26, split with coach Kamau Murray in late 2018 after four years together and has been guided by Sven Groeneveld for the past two months.