Wimbledon: Vondrousova becomes first women’s defending champion in 30 years to lose in first round

It’s only day two at Wimbledon but there has already been a huge upset as women’s defending champion Marketa Vondrousova was knocked out in the opening round by world No 83 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, of Spain.

Opening proceedings on Centre Court as is the tradition with women’s defending champions, Vondrousova went down in one hour and nine minutes to the 21-year-old Bouzas Maneiro, who had never won a main draw match at a Grand Slam prior to today.

Bouzas Maneiro’s 6-4, 6-2 win made Vondrousova the first women’s defending champion to lose in the first round at Wimbledon since 1994 when Steffi Graf, who had won the title in 1991, 1992 and 1993, was stunned by American Lori McNeil in the first round.

The Czech left-hander, who surprised Ons Jabeur and the rest of the tennis world to claim her first Grand Slam title at the All England Club 12 months ago, came into the tournament with some question marks over her fitness.

She suffered a fall during her second-round match against Anna Kalinskaya in Berlin two weeks ago, forcing her to retire from that clash and then pulled out of last week’s event in Eastbourne.

Bouzas Maneiro will go on to play either countrywoman Cristina Bucsa or Romania’s Ana Bogdan.

I feel like everybody just expects you to win maybe. That’s tough.

Marketa Vondrousova

Speaking to the media, Vondrousova admitted that she did have a tough time dealing with the expectations to win again as well as the physical issues that have hampered her in recent weeks.

“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. She was also playing a good match. That was kind of tough, too. Overall it was very tough. 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. It just didn’t go as planned today,” the Czech said.

At the same time, she also credited her opponent for a good performance and putting pressure on her serve.

“It’s tough to go out defending the title. I was really nervous from the morning and everything. She was also playing good tennis, so that’s kind of tough, too. You don’t have many chances to, I don’t know, just win free points maybe. She was returning also good. My serve wasn’t so good today. Overall, I think I wasn’t at my best, and she was playing good.”

Wimbledon (Grand Slam), first-round matches (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 50,000,000):

• Jessica Bouzas Maneiro beat Marketa Vondrousova (6) 6-4, 6-2
• Elena Rybakina (4) beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-1
• Xinyu Wang beat Viktoriya Tomova 7-6, 3-6, 6-0
• Jessica Pegula (5) beat Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-0
• Harriet Dart beat Zhuoxuan Bai 6-4, 6-0
• Laura Siegemund beat Kateryna Baindl 6-4, 6-1
• Linda Noskova (26) beat Sara Errani: 7-6 (3), 6-1
• Emma Navarro (19) beat Qiang Wang: 6-0, 6-2
• Paula Badosa beat Karolina Muchova: 6-3, 6-2
• Coco Gauff (2) beat Caroline Dolehide: 6-1, 6-2
• Bianca Andreescu beat Jaqueline Cristian: 6-4, 6-2
• Sonay Kartal (Q) beat Sorana Cirstea (29): 3-6, 6-2, 6-0
• Yuriko Lily Miyazaki (WC) beat Tamara Korpatsch: 6-2, 6-1
• Sloane Stephens beat Elsa Jacquemot (LL): 6-3, 6-3
• Yulia Starodubtseva (Q) beat Alison Van Uytvanck: 6-4, 6-3
• Emma Raducanu (WC) beat Renata Zarazua (LL): 7-6, 6-3
• Erika Andreeva (LL) beat Emina Bektas: 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3
• Donna Vekic beat Xiyu Wang: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Lulu Sun (Q) beat Qinwen Zheng (8): 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
• Clara Burel beat Eva Lys (Q): 6-2, 6-4
• Daria Saville beat Peyton Stearns: 6-4, 6-2
• Naomi Osaka (WC) beat Diane Parry: 6-1, 1-6, 6-4
• Madison Keys (12) beat Martina Trevisan: 6-4, 7-6 (4)
• Diana Shnaider beat Karolina Pliskova: 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
• Yafan Wang beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova: 6-0, 3-6, 6-4
• Jasmine Paolini (7) beat Sara Sorribes Tormo: 7-5, 6-3
• Arantxa Rus beat Yue Yuan: 6-2, 6-3
• Elise Mertens beat Nao Hibino: 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
• Daria Kasatkina (14) beat Shuai Zhang: 6-3, 6-0
• Marta Kostyuk (18) beat Rebecca Sramkova: 6-3, 6-2
• Anca Todoni (Q) beat Olga Danilovic (LL): 7-5, 6-1
• Greet Minnen beat Heather Watson (WC): 7-5, 6-4
• Varvara Gracheva beat Lesia Tsurenko: 6-3, 6-1
• Dayana Yastremska (28) beat Nadia Podoroska: 6-1, 7-6 (1)
• Maria Sakkari (9) beat McCartney Kessler (Q): 6-3, 6-1
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (25) beat Taylor Townsend: 7-6 (4), 6-1
• Lin Zhu beat Irina-Camelia Begu: 6-0, 6-4
• Magda Linette vs. Elina Svitolina
• Ons Jabeur vs. Moyuka Uchijima
• Maria Lourdes Carle vs. Katie Volynets
• Barbora Krejcikova vs. Veronika Kudermetova
• Magdalena Frech vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia
• Camila Osorio vs. Lauren Davis
• Danielle Collins vs. Clara Tauson
• Francesca Jones vs. Petra Martic
• Iga Swiatek vs. Sofia Kenin
• Viktorija Golubic vs. Jule Niemeier
• Caroline Wozniacki vs. Alycia Parks
• Oceane Dodin vs. Daria Snigur
• Robin Montgomery vs. Olivia Gadecki
• Mayar Sherif vs. Dalma Galfi
• Marina Stakusic vs. Katerina Siniakova
• Yulia Putintseva vs. Angelique Kerber
• Katie Boulter vs. Tatjana Maria
• Rebeka Masarova vs. Liudmila Samsonova
• Marie Bouzkova vs. Julia Riera
• Anna Kalinskaya vs. Panna Udvardy
• Lucia Bronzetti vs. Leylah Fernandez
• Ajla Tomljanovic vs. Jelena Ostapenko
• Bernarda Pera vs. Anastasia Potapova
• Caroline Garcia vs. Anna Blinkova
• Anhelina Kalinina vs. Elina Avanesyan
• Cristina Bucsa vs. Ana Bogdan