Gauff, Pegula book second-round spots in Eastbourne
No.5 seed Coco Gauff
Gauff's fellow American and regular doubles partner Jessica Pegula
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Gauff and Pegula could face off in the quarterfinals if they both win their second-round matches on Wednesday.
World No.7 Gauff needed just 61 minutes to oust 27th-ranked Pera and make the Eastbourne second round for the second time in her two appearances.
"Bernarda is not an easy player, especially a lefty on grass," Gauff said afterwards. "It was really windy today, so I think we were just trying to make one more ball in the court. Overall, I'm happy with today's win."
Gauff improves to 2-0 against Pera, having also won their match in the third round of this year's Australian Open by an identical 6-3, 6-2 score line.
With the victory, Gauff maintained her perfect record in first-round matches this season. The last time the 19-year-old lost her opening match at a tournament was in the round-robin portion of last year's WTA Finals.
On Tuesday, Gauff fired 13 winners (including six aces) to Pera's nine. Gauff cruised through the encounter without facing a break point, wrapping up the win with her final ace of the day on her first match point.
Gauff will have to stare down home-court opposition in the second round when she takes on Great Britain's Jodie Burrage
World No.4 Pegula prevailed over last season's WTA Newcomer of the Year Zheng after 1 hour and 38 minutes of powerful play. Both players had numerous chances on return, but Pegula erased all eight of the break points she faced while going 2-for-10 on her own opportunities.
The victory was Pegula's 28th match-win of the 2023 season. She has the fourth-most match-wins on tour this year, trailing only Iga Swiatek
Contesting her first grass-court event of the year, American No.1 Pegula will have her first career meeting against Colombian qualifier Camila Osorio
