Mark the date – 30th June. Because that is when your favorite grass-court specialists start the campaign to lay their claim on the 3rd Grand Slam of 2025, and the 138th edition of the prestigious Wimbledon tournament. Yes, with the qualifiers done, we now know how the path to glory starts for the women’s singles Championships, and for Coco Gauff, who is the number 2 seed in the competition this year.
The American is fresh off her incredible French Open win against Aryna Sabalenka, and now Gauff’s first challenge on the grass Grand Slam comes through Dayana Yastremska, as announced by the X handle of Roland Garros on June 27. Well, let’s get to know the Ukrainian who will definitely relish this start against Gauff. After all, she chose to pursue tennis because “it is very difficult and beautiful.” And this is as big as they come.
Dayana Yastremska’s WTA journey
Born on May 15, 2000, in Odessa, Yastremska has been a promising talent on the circuit and has been coached by some of the best names. That includes Magnus Norman, who coached Stan Wawrinka to victories at the Australian Open and Roland Garros. Then, the Ukrainian joined the academy of Justine Henin, the former world number one. She’s currently coached by Emmanuel Heussner and Marcis Garuts.
At 25 years old now, being ranked 46th in the World, maybe Dayana Yastremska is a tricky opponent to face in the first round for Coco Gauff, especially when grass hasn’t been the best friend of the 21-year-old American. More so, because at 18 years and 4 months, she had become the first female tennis player born in the 21st century to break into the Top 100. After her win at the Hong Kong tournament in 2018, she also became the youngest Ukrainian to win a WTA tournament final.
It was the early years in her professional career, and the good run continued in 2019 when she won in Hua Hin and Strasbourg. She has had her wins against big names like Angelique Kerber and Sabalenka when she reached the final in the 2020 Adelaide International, where she lost to former World number 1 Ashleigh Barty. In 2023, Yastremska won her only WTA 125 series event when she defeated Greet Minnen in the Kozerki Open, a hard-court tournament.
Credits – Instagram @dayana_yastremskay
In fact, Dayana Yastremska’s best performance in a Grand Slam has been on hard courts. At the 2024 Australian Open, she entered as a qualifier and went on to reach the semi-finals, getting some notable scalps along the way. No. 7 Marketa Vondrousova was ousted in the first round 6-1, 6-2, and then Emma Navarro in the 3rd round. The fairytale story continued when Dayana Yastremska took down Victoria Azarenka in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4.
Unfortunately, she eventually fell to Qinwen Zheng 6-4, 6-4. But her journey tells us she can cause a probable upset if Coco Gauff underestimates her opponent. In the US Open, her best finish has been the 3rd round (in 2019). In the French Open, she has reached the 3rd round twice, both in 2024 and 2025. As for Wimbledon, her best finish of reaching the 4th round came sometime back in 2019.
In fact, that is the main story, isn’t it? How it’s going to play out on the grass for the 2 competitors is the relevant question. As for Dayana Yastremska, whether her playing style matches the fast-paced Wimbledon is the key thing.
How has Coco Gauff’s first-round opponent been at Wimbledon?
The 2025 Wimbledon comes with its uniqueness, and it will be Yastremska’s 5th Wimbledon appearance. In the 4 times she has participated, the Ukrainian has won 8 games out of 13. Her run in 2024 saw her reach the 3rd round, where she lost to Donna Vekic in 3 sets. This time, she enters straight into the main draw without any qualifiers. But she has been brushing up her slices and volleys in the Nottingham Open, where she reached the Final on June 22.
Dayana Yastremska is known for being a powerful hitter with great footwork. Even though Wimbledon doesn’t reward aggressive baseline players like Yastremska, her strong groundstrokes game keeps her in the hunt. Add to that she can cover the court well, so it does make things interesting on June 30 when Gauff goes 1-on-1 against the Ukrainian. Yastremska has reached a career best World Ranking of 21, that too when she was just 19. She has had some ebb and flow along the way, but she won’t be a pushover, that’s for sure.
Do you think Dayana Yastremska can cause a huge upset on the first day of the 2025 Wimbledon? Who do you think will win – Coco Gauff or Yastremska? Let us know in the comments!
The post Who is Coco Gauff’s R1 Opponent at Wimbledon 2025? Everything You Need to Know About Dayana Yastremska appeared first on EssentiallySports.
