Anca Todoni is only getting acquainted with grass, and she will be pushed to her limits against No. 2 seed Coco Gauff in the second-round battle at Wimbledon.
The Romanian defeated lucky loser Olga Danilovic in her first-round match while her American opponent put last year's nightmare exit behind her against countrywoman Caroline Dolehide.
Match preview
For a player who had never played at this level, Todoni's 7-5, 6-1 success in her Slam debut was commendable as she deservedly progressed into a second match at the Championships.
The Romanian typically plays on clay, so there were doubts about how she would acclimate to grass in the lead-up to a potential maiden major.
The teenager's odds looked better after dropping just one set in qualifying, and she continued that admirable run in the tournament proper on Monday.
However, she has never faced anyone at Gauff's level, posing a new challenge for the Romanian, whose aggressive style could stand her in good stead against the superior seed.
The teenager accrued 95 winners in her three qualifying matches and hit a further 17 in Monday's first round, underlining her ability to cause America's highest-ranked player problems on Wednesday.
Gauff remains the top favourite despite Todoni's admirable strengths on court, and she began this year like a woman on a mission to banish her 2023 first-round exit.
Undoubtedly a different player to the No. 7 seed that Sofia Kenin eliminated circa 12 months back, the American dispatched compatriot Dolehide 6-1, 6-2 in 65 minutes on her return to the Championships.
Nearly everything Gauff tried on both wings came off, and she hit 14 winners to her opponent's four to claim an easy tournament-opening victory.
Having been placed on the ostensibly simpler side of the draw, the withdrawals of Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka and Ekaterina Alexandrova before Monday's action allied with early eliminations for Karolina Pliskova and Qinwen Zheng have made Gauff's path even more straightforward, with Naomi Osaka and possibly Emma Raducanu her main threats.
The 20-year-old now faces a different kind of pressure to make the most of the far less demanding draw, even if she must avoid complacency at a Slam she has never previously gone beyond the fourth round.
Tournament so far
Anca Todoni:
First round: vs. Olga Danilovic 7-5 6-1
Coco Gauff:
First round: vs. Caroline Dolehide 6-1 6-2
Head To Head
Wednesday's second-round match is unsurprisingly the pair's first-ever meeting, and it remains to be seen how the newbie fares against the player who has historically struggled at the Championships.
Gauff should be wary of the Todoni forehand, having seen the qualifier hit nine winners off that side in her first-round success.
The American's year has unsurprisingly been superior, with a 76% win rate on the main tour to her opponent's 64% across the lesser tournaments.
We say: Gauff to win in three sets
While many could scoff at the American dropping a set, Gauff's underwhelming Wimbledon history and Todoni's fearless aggression point to a potential banana skin for one of the pre-tournament favourites. The No. 2 seed should secure the win against her inexperienced opponent, but this one could be far from straightforward.
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