Twelve months after writing her identify in Wimbledon historical past, Marketa Vondrousova made historical past of a special type on Tuesday when she was crushed within the first spherical by Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, a Spaniard who had by no means gained a grand slam match earlier than. The Czech was completely out of kinds as she went down 6-4, 6-2, turning into the primary defending ladies’s singles champion to lose in spherical one since Steffi Graf was crushed by Lori McNeil in 1994. Lleyton Hewitt was the final male champion to lose on the first hurdle, crushed by Ivo Karlovic in 2003.
Vondrousova, the sixth seed, had pulled out of the warm-up occasion in Berlin after struggling a nasty fall and struggled from the beginning towards Bouzas Maneiro, double-faulting thrice within the first sport. Ranked No 83 on the planet, the 21-year-old performed one warm-up occasion on grass, in Italy, and misplaced within the first spherical, however on Tuesday she was calm, poised and took full benefit of her off-colour opponent to ship one other large identify out, after Aryna Sabalenka’s withdrawal on day one.
“I’m actually comfortable,” Bouzas Maneiro mentioned. “This is likely one of the most superb moments of my life and my profession. I used to be a little bit nervous at first however I don’t know, it’s so good right here, I felt at residence on Centre Court docket. Marketa’s an excellent participant, she gained right here final yr, so I had no stress. I simply needed to benefit from the match.”
Carrying the mantle of grand slam champion and particularly Wimbledon champion has been an honour and a stress for Vondrousova, somebody who doesn’t normally search out the limelight. Returning to Centre Court docket as champion, she mentioned, was a pleasure, but it surely additionally introduced with it some stress.
“It’s robust to exit defending the title,” she admitted. “At the moment I used to be a bit scared due to my leg, too. However I don’t suppose that was the explanation. I felt nervous from the beginning. General it was very robust. It’s robust emotions additionally to return. I really feel like all people simply expects you to win, possibly. That’s robust, too. I used to be comfortable to be again on the Centre Court docket. It simply didn’t go as deliberate right this moment.”
Having gained her fourth French Open title in June, Iga Swiatek selected to relaxation slightly than get some match follow on grass. Contemplating final yr’s quarter-final run is her finest effort right here up to now, it was a threat however the world No 1 appeared sturdy as she beat the American, Sofia Kenin, 6-3, 6-4.
It is just 4 years since Kenin gained the Australian Open and she or he additionally made the ultimate at Roland Garros the identical yr, shedding out to Swiatek. After a yr or extra within the wilderness, she has made her approach again into the highest 50 and introduced Swiatek with loads of issues, her crisp hitting pushing the Pole again.
However Swiatek settled any nerves there might have been with an early break and she or he was by no means behind. She dropped solely six factors on first serve within the match and one within the second set and when it got here to serving for the match, she closed out to like. “For positive it was a strong begin and never a straightforward draw,” mentioned Swiatek, who has now gained 20 matches in a row. “These days on WTA Tour it’s fairly simple to play towards grand slam champions, even within the first spherical. There’s no time to form of get into the match slowly.
“On this floor it’s not concerning the end result for me but it surely’s concerning the progress and the way I’m going to really feel, if I’m doing issues higher than final yr,” she mentioned. “On the follow court docket I’ve been feeling like yearly I’m enjoying a bit higher than final yr. I’ve had an excellent begin to the season so I may come right here and never fear about factors or something and simply give attention to the progress.”
Elena Rybakina, the champion right here in 2022, got here into the match because the fourth seed however with doubts about her well being, having pulled out of various occasions this yr by sickness. The Kazakhstani fell a break down early towards Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania however ran out a snug 6-3, 6-1 winner.
The fifth seed, Jessica Pegula of the USA, beat her compatriot Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-0 to succeed in spherical two, whereas No 13 seed Jelena Ostapenko, the previous French Open champion, cruised previous Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1, 6-2.
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