Wimbledon : Coco Gauff unleashes power serves to down Mihaela Buzărnescu, Simona Halep rallies to end Kirsten Flipkens's run in tennis

Coco Gauff gave another brilliant performance after beating Elena Gabriela Ruse in a hard-fought three-set thriller. The 18-year-old American eased passed another Romanian with the two of the fastest serves of the tournament so far. She fired a 196.34km/h service in the opening set, followed by a 199 km/h serve in the second set, with both the serves breaking the previous record of 119 km/h by both Petra Kvitova and Elena Rybakina.

The youngest player in the women's singles draw, Coco Gauff, won 85% of the points on the first serve to clinch the first set after just 31 minutes of play. She slipped a little and fell behind Mihaela Buzarnescu in the second set but never lost her momentum. The American teenager forced her Romanian opponent into an error in the eighth game and closed the match with a superb ace. The victory improved the record of Coco Gauff at Wimbledon to 8-2.

After the victory, Coco Gauff said, "I wasn't nervous walking on the court. It was the first time I stepped onto Centre Court, and I wasn't worried. I was playing on an unpredictable surface. I credit a lot is my speed and my ability to be able to react and adjust. I think that is what you need on these surfaces.

Coco Gauff surprised the tennis world when she advanced to the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2019 when she was just 15 years old. The victory sets her up for a third-round clash with her American compatriot Amanda Anisimova. 

Coco Gauff on Rafael Nadal, "He is one of the best players; he always intimidates me." 

Rafael Nadal praised the maturity of Coco Gauff and predicted that she would win several Grand Slam titles in her career.

Coco responded to the praise of Rafael Nadal with thanks while also adding that she feels intimidated by the Spaniard. She said, "This meant a lot to me. Rafa is one of the greatest in this sport, if not the greatest. I see him in the players' area. He is very lovely but always intimidates me because he is Rafa. I remember that at Roland Garros, he slapped me on the shoulder and said, "Good job. I answered him when he had already passed the corridor because I was shocked.

Simona Halep rallies to win in Kirsten Flipkens' Wimbledon farewell.

Simona Halep defeated Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 7-5, 6-4 in the second round at Wimbledon.

Kirsten Flipkens started strong and gave a formidable challenge to Simona Halep. She quickly raced to a 5-2 lead in the opening set, but Simona Halpe bounced back with intense aggressive play as she won five straight games to win the first set.

Kirsten Flipkens retook the lead in the second set, racing to 1-4. However, Simona Halep pulled off another impressive reversal in a repeat of the first set by winning five straight games to secure a third-round spot. 

Simona Halep ended the match with 20 winners to 17 unforced errors compared to 24 winners to 21 unforced errors by Kirsten Flipkens. The victory improved the win-loss record of Simona Halep against her Belgian opponent to 5-0.

In an on-court interview, No. 16 seed Simona Halep said, "Definitely, it's not about my match today. It is about her. I am thrilled. I can play the last game against her. We talked in Dubai about this moment; it was pretty emotional back then, but now it's double. Simona Halep will face Magdalena Fręch of Poland in the third round of Wimbledon on July 2.

In her eventful career, Kirsten Flipkens has won one singles title and five doubles titles. The Belgian had previously announced that the 2022 Wimbledon would be her last ever singles tournament. 

Kirsten Flipkens shared her final thoughts after the match. She said, "I mean, a lot of emotions going through my body, of course. For everything, there is an end in life; I am bout to start a new chapter. It's a special feeling.

When talking about what she would miss the most about her singles career. She spoke about the standing ovation after the match and said she would miss her fans the most.