Coco Gauff returns to the scene of her Grand Slam breakthrough at Wimbledon later this month but the American says she is not feeling any pressure to repeat her heroics of 2019 when she reached the fourth round as a 15-year-old.
Gauff, who lost to eventual champion Simona Halep two years ago, will play at the Eastbourne International as she prepares for another tilt at Wimbledon, which was cancelled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now 17 and ranked world No. 23, Gauff said her Wimbledon debut felt like “a long time ago”.
 “People might expect me to feel pressure going into it, but I don’t really feel any pressure going into it,” said Gauff, who reached her maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at the French Open earlier this month before losing to Barbora Krejcikova.
“I’m just going to have fun and enjoy it. I don’t really want to push myself to compare my result this year with last time.
“I want to do better than when I first went there but it was the start of everything. I’m thankful for that experience and it definitely helped me as a player and a person.”
 Wimbledon begins on June 28.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov has decided not to compete at the Tokyo Olympics due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the world number 12 said yesterday.
The 22-year-old Shapovalov is the latest player to opt out of the Olympics as Spaniard Rafa Nadal and Austria’s Dominic Thiem both announced last week they would not compete in the July 24-Aug. 1 men’s tennis tournament in Tokyo.
“Representing Canada means the world to me, but due to the current situation my team and I have decided this is the best decision for everyone’s safety,” Shapovalov wrote on Twitter.
“I can’t wait to represent Canada at future Olympic games.”
Shapovalov, who reached the quarter-finals at last year’s US Open, pulled out of this year’s French Open with a shoulder injury a day after he lost in the Geneva final.
He has competed in two tournaments since, most recently in a Wimbledon tune-up at Queen’s Club in London where he lost in the semi-final on Saturday.