Reigning Wimbledon champion crashes out in first round to rival who never won a Slam match | Tennis | Sport

Marketa Vondrousova’s Wimbledon title defence ended in the first round as she crashed out to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.

The world No. 83 had never won a match in a Grand Slam main draw until today and earned the biggest victory of her career, upsetting the reigning champion 6-4 6-2.

Vondrousova became the first unseeded woman to lift the Wimbledon trophy when she defeated Ons Jabeur in last year’s final.

But the world No. 6 didn’t have the ideal preparation coming into Wimbledon. During her round-of-16 match on the grass courts Berlin last month, she slipped while leading 5-3 and retired with a hip injury two games later.

And it became clear that the issue was still bothering Vondrousova as she took to Centre Court to begin her title defence. She was broken in the first game but managed to get back on serve.

But the Spaniard held her nerve and broke again, taking the opening set in 41 minutes thanks to a 17th unforced error from Vondrousova’s racket.

Last year’s winner appeared to be wincing as things went from bad to worse in the second set. Vondrousova recovered from an early break down in the second set to level at 1-1 but Bouzas Maneiro won five of the next six games to send the sixth seed packing in a little over an hour, taking it on a backhand winner that perfectly caught the line.

It’s the first time in 30 years that the defending champion has crashed out in the first round.

After the match Vondrousova said: “Today I was a bit scared because of my leg, too. But I don’t think that was the reason. I felt the nervous from the start.

“Yeah, I mean, she was also playing a good match. That was kind of tough, too. Yeah, overall it was very tough. Yeah, it’s tough feelings also to go back. I feel like everybody just expects you to win maybe. That’s tough, too.

“I was happy to be back on the Centre Court. Yeah, it just didn’t go as planned today.”

Commentators questioned whether Vondrousova’s hip injury played a part. “There’s definitely something going on with that right hip, we’ve seen her stretching it out and grimacing the last five, ten minutes,” Chris Bradnam said on BBC One just before the Czech star was dumped out by the world No. 83.

Retired pro Chanda Rubin added: “You wonder with Marketa Vondrousova if the hip has been affecting her serve. We saw the struggles she’s had and the pressure Jessica Bouzas Maneiro has put her under. Bouzas Maneiro has embraced the moment and played some incredible tennis.”