Let’s just run through the checklist for opponents of Coco Gauff at Wimbledon.

Question one: have you won a Grand Slam title? No? Hmmm. Question two: is this the second week of The Championships? No again? Oh dear.

In that case, on paper the news is bad. In each of Gauff’s two previous Wimbledon campaigns to date, it has required a champion to halt her in the last 16.

Nonetheless, she was made to work hard for victory in her opening match of The Championships 2022.

In a switchback contest against world No.54 Elena-Gabriela Ruse, it took all Gauff’s resourcefulness to win through 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 on No.2 Court.

“Elena played an amazing match,” Gauff said.

“Both of us gave our heart. It was an electrifying match and I want to congratulate her on her tennis and her fight. I honestly like this court. It’s pretty loud but also intimate – you can hear every cheer and every gasp.

"First rounds are always the most nerve wracking. In the middle of the first set I was freaking out a bit but I thought the worst that can happen is that I lose – it’s not the end of the world. And that’s when I started to play better.”

Gauff and the doughty Romanian actually have a slice of Wimbledon experience in common – both came through Qualifying in 2019 to make the main draw, although at 15 years and three months Gauff did so as the youngest player in Wimbledon history.

And while it would take a beetle-browed connoisseur of tennis to know that Ruse’s campaign that year ended at once in defeat to Julia Goerges, Gauff famously grabbed global headlines by dismissing five-time champion Venus Williams in straight sets on No.1 Court.

This time Gauff arrived at Wimbledon at a career high in both singles and doubles (12 and 5 respectively), courtesy of her impressive runs to the finals of both competitions at Roland-Garros.

But it pays to remember that even now, three years on from her stunning victory debut, Gauff is once again the youngest player in either the men’s or women’s draw. Still, it was unexpected when she surrendered her opening service game to love.

Ruse was going for the lines, on the attack with driving groundstrokes as the stands echoed on each stroke to her cry of “Aaaaah!” Gauff was visibly dispirited as she searched for her service groove.

In blustery conditions, the American could not stamp her authority on the set. Every time it seemed she had steadied herself, a mistake would creep in.

Even on her own serve, the scant delightful moments – particularly a really wonderful drop shot which died on the turf – were a false dawn. With her forehand misfiring, Gauff lost a set for only the second time in her seven first-week matches at Wimbledon.

Before the match got underway there had been no sign of trouble afoot. Ruse’s greatest successes to date have been in doubles – she made the quarter-finals of both last autumn’s US Open and Roland-Garros just gone.

True, she has a top 10 win to her name this year, having seen off Paula Badosa in Dubai.

But otherwise, on paper there was little comparison.

Like Gauff, Ruse had twice previously played the main draw at Wimbledon, but unlike Gauff she had fallen at the first hurdle both times, although she gave Agnieszka Radwanska plenty to think about for a while in their 2018 joust.

Hence at the start of the second chapter, Gauff set about reversing the course of the match while the crowd did their best to lift her.

As Ruse strode about the court between points, with her hair in a bun above her visor she resembled a slightly taller version of her adored compatriot Simona Halep – who of course took the Wimbledon crown three years ago.

That day Halep improbably obliterated seven-time champion Serena Williams. Was another unheralded victory on the cards by a Romanian over a celebrated American?

It took 27 minutes of the second set before Gauff could punch through with a break for 2-4. Ruse fought on but her intensity was dipping and Gauff capitalised.

The decider looked sorted when Ruse double-faulted to gift an early break, but she wouldn’t lie down.

From 3-3 Gauff had 10 break points, making headway only when Ruse double-faulted again in exhaustion. It was a very relieved Gauff who shook hands after two-and-a-half hours, her passage secured.

"Getting out of trouble in matches is an art," she said later.

"What makes you a champion and gets you to that next level is how you figure out how to win in these tough moments.

"I want the crowd and opponents watching me to always remember me as a fighter. Over my career, I kind of lost how to deal with the pressure a little bit. I feel like now I found it and I know that it's okay not to play your best tennis all the time."

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