Earlier, Jessica Pegula joked she had broken her Wimbledon curse after reaching the second round, a year on from her shock first-round exit.
American fourth seed Pegula was one of the favourites for the title last year, having won a grass-court title in Bad Homburg in the build-up to the championships.
Her friend, 2021 Australian Open runner-up Jennifer Brady, was so confident that she texted Pegula on the eve of the tournament: “I think you’re winning Wimbledon.”
However, Pegula suffered a 58-minute 6-2 6-3 loss to Elisabetta Cocciaretto on an opening day full of shocks.
This year, she grew in confidence to beat Czech Darja Vidmanova 7-5 6-3.
Pegula left Brady – who she co-hosts a podcast with – a ticket but said her friend could not get there for the start of the match.
“She was like, I’m not going to mess anything up. We have not talked about my results this year at Wimbledon,” Pegula joked.
“The curse has been lifted, for sure.
“I definitely wanted to redeem myself a bit from last year’s exit and then also the early exit at the French [Open].”
Pegula, who beat world number one Aryna Sabalenka in Berlin in the build-up to Wimbledon, will face Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo next.
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