Defending champion Marketa Vondrousova suffered a first-round exit at Wimbledon today, beaten in straight sets by Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
Vondrousova, who made history last year by becoming the first unseeded woman to win the event, lost 6-4 6-2 on Centre Court to the world number 83.
Bouzas Maneiro had never won a grand slam match before today but showed admirable cool to get the job done in 67 minutes, sealing the match with a backhand winner down the line.
The Spaniard broke Vondrousova five times as the Czech struggled for consistency and, by the end, was spraying the ball over the court on her way to making 28 unforced errors.
A huge moment on Centre Court!
Defending #WIMBLEDON Women’s singles champion Marketa Vondrousova has been beaten in the first round by Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro ❌#BBCTENNIS PIC.TWITTER.COM/V9MWHICYA4
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) JULY 2, 2024
Bouzas Maneiro said: “I’m really happy. This is one of the most important moments of my life, in my career here on this court, this is amazing.
“The atmosphere here, the tournament is the most beautiful tournament I ever played in my life so thank you so much to everyone who came here today to watch.”
The 21-year-old played just one warm-up event on grass, losing in the first round at the Veneto Open in Italy, but looked at home in SW19.
Asked where this performance had come from, she added: “I don’t know. I was just thinking about enjoying the moment and trying to play Marketa. She’s one of the best players in the world. She won last year here. I had no pressure, enjoy the moment, enjoy the tournament and just trying to be free-playing and I did it.”
Vondrousova, who suffered a hip injury in Berlin two weeks ago that seemed to impact her movement, is just the second defending champion to go out in the first round, following German great Steffi Graf, who lost to Lori McNeil in 1994.
