Marketa Vondrousova on Tuesday became the first defending women’s Wimbledon champion to lose in the first round in 30 years, as Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek cruised through.
It was a painful day for Czech sixth seed Vondrousova, whose time in the Wimbledon spotlight was cut cruelly short in a chastening 6-4, 6-2 defeat to Spain’s unheralded Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
Vondrousova is only the second defending champion to lose in the first round at the All England Club in the Open Era.
Photo: AFP
The only other time it happened was 30 years ago, when Lori McNeil defeated three-time defending champion Steffi Graf.
World No. 83 Bouzas Maneiro, playing in only the third Grand Slam main draw of her career, broke five times in the match under the roof on Centre Court, sealing victory in 66 minutes.
Vondrousova, who said she was wary in her first match since she hurt her hip at last month’s Berlin grass-court tournament, struggled with her serve and racked up 28 unforced errors.
“Practice was fine and everything,” the 25-year-old Czech said. “Today I was a bit scared because of my leg too, but I don’t think that was the reason. I felt nervous from the start.”
“It’s tough to go out defending the title,” she added.
World No. 1 Swiatek had no such troubles, beating former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-3, 6-4.
Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, cantered past Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-1 while fifth seed Jessica Pegula lost just two games against US compatriot Ashlyn Krueger.
Djokovic, 37, had a knee operation after pulling out before his French Open quarter-final — sparking fears he would not be fit in time for Wimbledon, where he is chasing a record-equaling eighth men’s title.
Although he wore a support on his right knee, he showed no sign of discomfort in dispatching Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
The Serbian world No. 2, seeks to equal Roger Federer’s Wimbledon title haul and also become the first player — man or woman — to win 25 Grand Slam singles titles.
“I tried to really focus on the game and not think about the knee too much,” Djokovic said. “Everything that I could do, I have done over the last three weeks along with my team to be able to play here for you today. I think if it was for any other tournament I probably would not have risked it, would not have rushed as much but I just love Wimbledon, love coming back here.”
A fuming Andrey Rublev, a quarter-finalist last year, exited in four sets against Argentina’s Francisco Comesana, playing his first Grand Slam match, while fourth seed and French Open runner-up Alexander Zverev progressed in straight sets.
Ademola Lookman on Thursday scored on his Atletico Madrid debut in a 5-0 rout of Real Betis Balompie that sent Diego Simeone’s team to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. David Hancko, Giuliano Simeone, Antoine Griezmann and Thiago Almada also scored for Atletico as they advanced to the last four for the third straight season. Atletico are trying to reach their first Copa final since winning the competition in 2012-2013. Hancko opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute and Giuliano Simeone added to the lead in the 30th, before Lookman got his first goal for Atletico on a fast
France head coach Fabien Galthie on Thursday lauded his team’s attacking performance after their dazzling 36-14 victory over Ireland in their Six Nations opener. A brace of tries from Louis Bielley-Biarrey and one from mercurial flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert helped France storm into a 29-0 lead before taking their foot off the gas and allowing Ireland back into the match, before winger Theo Attissogbe put some gloss on the victory late on. “In an attacking sense, with the ball, the team played with great accuracy,” Galthie said. “It was one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time, despite the weather
SUPERSTAR DELIVERS: Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to propel the Spurs to a 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday shook off the early exit of injured star Luka Doncic, rallying without him in the second half for a 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Austin Reaves, again coming off the bench in his second game back from a 19-game injury absence, scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, drilling a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lakers their first lead of the game early in the final frame. “Losing Luka, you know nothing’s going to be easy after that because he does so much for us, but we bonded together,” said
Italy are finally heading to the World Cup — just not in the sport most people might expect. Amid dark times for the country’s storied, but ailing soccer team, some salvation comes in the form of the Azzurri’s unheralded cricketers after their first-ever qualification for a global tournament. Add Italy to cricketing superpowers like India, Australia, England and South Africa competing at the T20 World Cup starting tomorrow. “Just to be there and playing is the end of 45 years of hard work,” Italian Cricket Federation CEO Luca Bruno Malaspina said. That is a reference to the formation of the sport’s national federation in
RSS