Coco Gauff’s prowess in the first round at Wimbledon was a delight to watch! A win over Caroline Dolehide in straight sets starts Gauff’s Wimbledon journey on a great note. However, awaiting her in the second round at the All England Club is Anca Todoni. The 19-year-old, only 6 months younger than Gauff, just claimed her first-ever Grand Slam victory over fellow qualifier, Serbia’s Olga Danilovic. But she is not ready to leave the grass empty-handed.

Born in 2004, Anca Todoni comes from Timisoara, Romania, where she was first introduced to the racquet sport at age 6. Since then, she has had her goal clear. The right-handed player, who now ranks at 142, has an astounding record on grass this season. Well, a win rate of 80% during her first performance on the grass courts of Wimbledon sounds good, right? Although she mostly played in the ITF circuit, her record on clay over the last 2 years has started heavily improving. 

Todoni has won 25 matches in 2022 on clay (and lost only 7), extending her win record on the surface to an astounding 78%! But that’s not all – last year, Todoni surpassed her own record and emerged victorious in 51 matches on clay and 6 matches on hard courts!

While in singles, she has won the ITF tournaments in Turkey, Slovenia, Romania, and Croatia; in doubles, partnering with players like Katerina Tsygourova, Raluca Serban, and Ilinca Amariei has also yielded positive results for her in the ITF circuits in Slovenia, Greece, and Germany.

Therefore, the 5x ITF title winner started the 2024 season with more confidence and zeal to perform better than ever! And she did. After her first-round victory at the Copa Colsanitas event, Anca Todoni entered the top 200 rankings with grace. Not only that, last month, her first WTA 125 title win pushed her further up in the rankings, and Todoni reached the top 150 for the first time in her career (world No. 136). Who would stop her after that? 

After entering the Wimbledon championships as a qualifier, she has shown her prowess and made her Grand Slam debut in the event’s main draw. The Romanian player, who has been a part of the Billie Jean King Cup event, is now preparing to take on Coco Gauff in the second round of the event. However, before that, she had previously expressed her feelings about performing at Wimbledon so far!

Anca Todoni reveals why she has started to love grass courts more than hard courts!

Anca Todoni, who usually shows her charm on hard courts and clay, is finding her new love for grass! After all, an Elena Rybakina fan herself, Todoni wants to “become like her” in tennis. The Romanian tennis pro, who now wants to focus on herself and perform her best on-court, said, “I really enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoyed it more than hard courts, which I thought was impossible. The movement is not as bad as everyone told me it would be. The power is one of my keys. Taking the opponent’s time is a crucial advantage.”

In 2022, Anca Todoni had an abrupt end to her reign in junior tournaments due to an injury while she was starting to get ready for Roland Garros and Wimbledon of that season.

However, when she came back on-court, Todoni decided to step into the ITF World Tour, a decision that led her to ultimately perform at Wimbledon within the next two years. As the second round draws closer, it will be interesting to witness her performance on the grass courts once again!