Wimbledon champ Vondrousova out in first round

LONDON — Marketa Vondrousova became the first defending women's Wimbledon champion in 30 years to lose in the first round on Tuesday while 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.

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," said the 25-year-old Czech. "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."

She added: "It's tough to go out defending the title."

There were no such problems for world No 1 Swiatek, who beat former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-3, 6-4.

The Polish top seed, who was playing her first match since winning a fourth French Open title last month, said she was happy with her performance after switching from clay to grass.

"I feel like I'm making progress every year, and every year the process of adapting to the surface is a little bit faster for me," said the 23-year-old, a quarterfinalist in 2023.

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.

Dominant Djokovic

Djokovic, 37, had a knee operation after pulling out of the French Open on the eve of his quarterfinal — sparking fears he would not be fit in time for Wimbledon, where he is chasing a record-equaling eighth men's title.

But, 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, who was beaten by Carlos Alcaraz in last year's final, did not face a single break point during his cruise.

He knows time is not on his side, as he attempts 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," said Djokovic.

"I have done everything that I could do 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; I love coming back here."

A fuming Andrey Rublev, a quarterfinalist last year, exited in four sets against Argentina's Francisco Comesana, playing his first Grand Slam match.

As his frustration mounted in the third set, the Russian sixth seed repeatedly smashed his racket against his knee, but he failed to turn things around and lost 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

Fourth seed and French Open runner-up Alexander Zverev progressed in straight sets.

Off the court, two-time champion Andy Murray pulled out of the singles at his farewell All England Club appearance, because he has not recovered sufficiently from his recent back surgery.

Britain's Murray, 37, is hoping to end his stellar career at the upcoming Paris Olympics, but desperately wanted to make a final singles appearance at Wimbledon, where he was champion in 2013 and 2016.

The Scot, who has been ravaged by injuries in recent years, will still play doubles with his brother Jamie, with whom he practiced on Tuesday afternoon.

"I'm disappointed, I wanted to play in the tournament," he said. "I wanted to have a chance to go out there and walk out on my own to Centre Court again and give it another go.

"But, also, I was only going to do that if I felt like I could be competitive, and I didn't feel like that today. I'm sorry to everyone that came and wanted to support and watch again."

Djokovic described Andy Murray as an inspiration to fellow players for his resilience, and backed him to return to Wimbledon in 2025

"Hopefully, he can get another shot at next year's Wimbledon with singles. Knowing him, he's going to try to do that," said Djokovic, who lost to Murray in the final of the grass-court Grand Slam 11 years ago.

"He's shown incredible resilience throughout his career, he's a multiple Grand Slam winner, a legend of the game and was No 1 in the world. He's just a huge inspiration to all the players. He doesn't mind getting on court for hours every day. He's an incredible professional.

"His approach is something to study. His will to push and see how far he can go, even with an artificial hip, is something that's inspiring, but also serves as a great example to a lot of athletes, younger ones, that complain about this and that."

AFP